Cold
by CrAzY-SiLLy-Me
Summary: He was a lady magnet and uses his looks to get info. She uses her body to attract her male targets. Now, a little bet brings them closer. Could these two learn how to love when they keep toying with feelings? AUOOC SasuSaku
1. Assassin meets Assassin

_A/N: I am back with a new fic! Just another assassin fic and it's a bit AU; not entirely though. Why did I have this first before Fallen? Well, it's a lot more popular than Fallen. I'm still working on a fanart for this. Check my profile for my deviantART account. Thanks to the Yakuza reviewers!

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**Cold**

Blood was all she saw yet she didn't even flinch. Cold is what she felt but she didn't shiver from it. A smirk made its way to her lips and she changed her skimpy clothes back to her assassin outfit composing of a black sleeveless shirt that was zipped to hide her chest, a black pair of spandex shorts that was two and a half inches above her knees and over it was a white mini-skirt that hugged her hips, reaching four inches above her knees with a slit on it starting from her waist to the hem. Adding to the look was a pair of black fingerless gloves and some black combat boots to go with the whole outfit.

She walked over to the window of the hotel room after collecting her things, from the scanty clothes to her kunai pouches. She attached and wrapped the case of the daggers around her right thigh and the shuriken pouch on the back left side of her waist. Taking out a communicator, she attached it to her ear and the mouthpiece near her lips.

"Mission complete." She said and opened the window, jumping out of the building and into the night. "I'm on my way to commence the next one."And she headed to a hotel to do her last task for the whole day.

* * *

He suppressed a twitch and a frown when all the girls in the club started to swoon all around him, flirting with him and trying desperately to catch his attention. He continued to sip his alcoholic beverage, not minding the girl that pressed her seemingly large chest against his arm, bringing her lips closer to his ear, breathing on it.

"Come on, dance with me." She urged and tried to pull him but he remained firm and smirked, looking at her. "Maybe later." He answered and got a sly smile from the girl, as well as a very red face. Another didn't want to be beaten so she placed an arm around him and neared her bosom to his face yet again, he appeared to be uninterested and continued drinking his booze.

"Maybe you want to do it with me?"

"Nah, too busy." He answered and gave a flirting look to her. "But I could give you something else if you answer my question." He said and waited for the girl to respond. Hearing this, most of those who tried to get his attention started to sit beside him or near him. "Shoot." They all said, eager to answer.

"Where is the owner of this club currently residing?"

His mission was too easy. Just when he got his answer(s) from the girl(s), he had downed the remaining contents of his drink and stood up, having his eyes closed and a small smile grazing his lips. "For that, I'll be giving you all a treat." Just as he expected, the girls swooned and went closer to him; he smirked and opened his eyes to reveal them red as each and every one of the women stared into his eyes and began fainting, one-by-one.

The bar tender looked over at the counter after hearing many thuds. He sweat dropped at the sight of many girls unconscious and having red tints on their cheeks. Raising his head to look up at the lady magnet who had took a wad of cash and placed it on the counter, the bar tender gaped.

"They drank too much." Was the teen's answer before he left, pocketing his hands inside his dark blue jacket pockets and walking out of the bar. _"Tche, damn annoying girls." _He thought and took off to the address he got from the persuading females.

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Assassin meets Assassin**_

Slowly and gracefully, she danced in front of her victim to the slow beat that was playing. Unknowingly, the man she was to kill was amused with her performance and was even thinking of hiring her as a dancer in his club that was always packed with people every night.

She gave a seductive smile to him and neared the man, seducing him some more. He, on the other hand, was lured into her trap as he pushed and pinned her to his bed, kissing her neck and touching every part of her body. She smirked and slowly took a kunai from her pouch that was at the side of the bed as he began to slip his hand under her white nightgown that was see-through and very short for her own good.

"_Die…" _she thought and was about to stab the man on his back when the windows suddenly broke and two guns clicked, indicating that they were loaded and were about to kill. The two looked up to see a young adult with a stoic face. "Go to hell." And he began shooting the man as the girl rolled over to the side of the bed and ducked her head, grabbing a gun from her bag and waited for the shooting to cease.

As soon as it did, she did a front flip and landed on the carpeted floor on a half-kneeling position as they both pointed the gun to each other at the same time. She furrowed her eyebrows at him and opened her mouth. "Who are you?"

"Before I answer, you should state your name first."

She smirked and put down the gun as he did the same. "Haruno Sakura, but you'll most probably know me for my alias as blood-thirsty blossom." She said and replaced the smirk with a serious expression. "And you are?"

This time, it was his turn to smirk as Sakura felt goose bumps crawl up to her arms and neck. She tried to shake the feeling off and waited for his answer. "Uchiha Sasuke, a.k.a. shadow assassin." He turned to the doorway and closed his eyes, hearing footsteps rush to the room. They were brought back to the victim as he groaned and Sakura quickly pulled the trigger of her gun when it was aimed on the man's head, finally killing him.

"You missed." She teased while he only smirked. "At least you didn't have to lose your virginity." and he turned around, missing the blush that crept through her face. "I suggest you leave soon or those secret agents are going to catch you." And the same way he entered, he left, jumping off the window.

Sakura frowned. It was a 26 storey building and this was the ninth floor, how did he enter and go out on this floor? Her thoughts were interrupted as people began banging through the door, demanding it to be opened. Sakura cursed and grabbed her clothes then ran to the window and jumped. She threw a string to the closest tree branch and swung towards it, landing safely on the ground. _"Maybe that's how he got out but how did he get in?" _

Her eyes scanned the place. She landed near a swimming pool that was designed to be surrounded by trees. Her ears picked up more footsteps running toward where she was and she cursed, hiding to the trees, hoping she wouldn't get caught. _"Damn it! If that guy didn't interrupt me I wouldn't have a problem! It was supposed to be a silent kill!"_ she gritted her teeth and suppressed a yell to come out from her mouth.

"Here, some of the people who were walking around said they saw a girl running here!" One yelled and three agents ran to where Sakura was. _"Oh shit…" _she cursed and sighed, thinking of a way to get out. She left her weapons and all she has are her assassin clothes.

"Play along." She heard someone say and when she looked up, her lips were locked with another. _"What the-?" _her mind screamed as she fought the urge to kiss back and pull the guy closer to her. Her green eyes looked up at his closed ones and she realized it was the guy who she met earlier, Uchiha Sasuke. _"Crap," _she thought and heard the agents' voices. _"So that's what he meant by play along." _She thought when she felt him press his lips harder. _"Fine, I'll give you something you will never forget." _She thought and closed her eyes and pulled Sasuke closer to her, opening her mouth as she didn't hesitate to let her tongue slip into his mouth when he did the same thing.

"Hey, you-" one agent stopped when he saw the pair making out. Sasuke acted normal and pretended to kiss the girl more when in truth was, he covered her with his whole body to prevent the agents from seeing her unique pink hair that gave away her identity. "Uh…" another said and they began to leave when they heard a _moan_ come from the girl.

Sasuke pulled away and smirked. "Not bad," he said and shoved a bag to her as she quickly caught it when it was about to fall on the ground. "I wouldn't mind becoming one of your victims, Haruno." He teased and earned a blush from the girl. "Heh, I take it you enjoyed that kiss?" again, she blushed a deeper shade of red and glared at him. "Be seeing 'ya." He quickly pecked her lips and took a step back, the smirk not leaving his face and slowly faded into the shadows. _"Uchiha Sasuke, shadow assassin…" _she thought and placed a hand on her lips. "Damn you for stealing my first kiss." She muttered and jumped to a tree branch where the leaves hid her body as she changed back into her assassin outfit.

She checked the contents of the bag and saw that it was the things she left in the room. _"How..?" _she looked around, trying to see if he was still there. _"Uchiha… where have I heard that name before..?"

* * *

_

"Done already?"

Sasuke remained passive and just waited for his boss' comments on his job as he handed a folder of his report. Hatake Kakashi, was once an assassin but now, he's the one assigning the missions and jobs. His silver hair looked as if it were shining because of the single light that lit the dark room. "You met another killer who was also after your victim?" he raised a brow at his top assassin who gave a nod. "Details Sasuke, details…"

"Her name's blood-thirsty blossom," he said and looked at Kakashi seriously. "You didn't tell me that there could be another killer." Sasuke smirked and eyed Kakashi. "She was a good kisser by the way."

"Have you been reading one of my Icha Icha Paradise books?"

The assassin shrugged. "Hey, that book helps me with my missions."

"Oh well, you're 23 years old already, no harm done."

"If that's it, I'm going." He said, turning around and walking out of the office. He stepped out into the night and looked up at the starry sky, hugging his jacket closer to him. _"I keep forgetting that autumn is ending and winter will soon be arriving…" _he thought and went inside his blue sports car. Normally, he'd be riding his motorcycle but it didn't have gas, not after the whole mission the other day.

Sasuke glanced at his flip phone and took it, opening its flap and dialing his home number. As soon as an old man's voice answered, Sasuke spoke. "Wei, it's me, see if you can find anything about the name Haruno Sakura."

* * *

"Did you say shadow assassin?"

Sakura gave a nod but didn't look up at her boss or friend. She just remained quiet in her seat and continued cleaning her kunai even though it was already _very _clean. "Why? Does the name ring a bell?"

"Sakura, where have you been?" Kurenai asked, rather, stated in disbelief. "I said something about him! You didn't listen, didn't you?"

Hinata nodded. "He's a part of a group of assassins called Shadow Serpents." She placed an index finger on her chin for a thought. "I think that's where they get their codenames. I heard that a member there had a name as shadow dagger or something…"

"You mean their boss?" Sakura asked and got a nod from Hinata. "My cousin works for him."

Sakura raised a brow. "But aren't you guys supposed to be comrades instead of rivals?"

"True, but the SS only accept male members, ours only considers female killers." Hinata leaned down on the sofa and sighed. "It's getting late, we'd better go home."

Kurenai nodded and dismissed them. The two headed for their own home and went to their respective rooms. Sakura locked her room door and opened her computer. This wasn't an ordinary one but was more advanced than any other kind. In their association, Kurenai made sure that every one of her members would get specialized PCs and Sakura now realized how the thing was really useful.

Opening a window, she typed in the search bar the name "Uchiha" and in another, the codename "shadow assassin". _"I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of this guy…" _Once the results were shown, she clicked on the name and read the information. _"Uchiha… their past are of a prestigious ninja clan… their modern lives are… what the..?"_

She re-read everything and was shocked to discover the history. "Everyone was killed..?" her eyes dilated and she suddenly shook. _"Did that guy… kill his whole family..?"

* * *

_

He heard his cell phone ring but he didn't budge or made a move to answer it. He only placed a pillow over his head and tried to ignore the persistent caller. When it stopped for a while, he thought he had won the battle and slowly drifted off to sleep but again, it rang. _  
_

Sasuke wasn't much of a morning person, well, who is in the middle of 3:15 AM? His phone rang and even if he didn't want to answer it, he had to. Groggily, he sat up from bed and grabbed his flip phone, answering the caller. "If this isn't important you'd better hang up now." He said icily.

"Chill Sasuke," oh no, that voice always pissed Sasuke whenever the owner calls him in the middle of the… dawn. "What do you want dead-last?"

"Hey, hey, don't rub it in."

"Naruto, spill it, I'm trying to get some sleep!"

"You know anything about a killer whose alias is blood-thirsty Girl?"

"_Blood-thirsty..?" _he thought and got up from bed. "Why?"

"I was in the middle of a mission when some girl beat me to my target and before I could interrogate her, she disappeared and left her backpack and it has a tag."

"And on it is the name?"

"Yes."

"Meet me at Kakashi's house, ASAP." He said and hung up. He sighed and grabbed his black shirt and put it on. Despite the cold nights, he still sleeps topless and in only a pair of knee-length shorts. _"What is it with female assassins with codenames starting as blood thirsty?" _he stopped his train of thoughts after remembering that all of their codenames begin with "shadow". The Uchiha took his beige cargo pants and his navy blue jacket before putting on some white socks and his black rubber shoes and grabbing his car keys.

Downstairs, he saw his ever faithful servant/caretaker, Wei, holding up his motor key and with a smile on his face. "Young Master, your bike has been loaded up with gas, and I do believe it is a lot faster than a car."

Sasuke smirked and took the key. "Thanks Wei, I'll be gone for the rest of the day again," Wei gave a nod as Sasuke opened the front door. "And call me if you get any news about Haruno."

"If I may ask, why are you so interested in this girl?"

He shrugged and got on his bike. "Hormones perhaps." He joked and started the ignition of his bike, placed on his helmet and he rode off as the tall gates of the Uchiha manor opened automatically.

* * *

"Coming, coming..." a voice called out as the man slowly descended from the stairs to answer the door. Kakashi groaned upon seeing who were his visitors. "What in the world are you two doing here in the middle of the dawn?" he asked, yawning. Naruto just entered and Sasuke followed while Kakashi gave a sigh and closed the door. "Explain." 

"Blood thirsty, ring a bell?" Naruto asked.

"W-what?" Kakashi gasped then rushed to his room and came back down fully dressed in an all black attire. "Come on, we're heading to HQ." They nodded and Naruto got on the passenger seat of Kakashi's car while the silver-haired man got inside the driver's seat. Sasuke put on his helmet and started the engine, driving off ahead of the two as the black car followed his lead. _"Looks like I'll be seeing more of you, Haruno Sakura…" _he smirked, if they were to have a showdown, he would enjoy it.

* * *

They reached the building and the guard by the gate immediately recognized Kakashi's car and Sasuke's bike that he opened the entrance to let them in. After parking their vehicles, Kakashi quickly rushed inside the building with the two assassins tailing behind. Once they reached his office, he quickly turned on his computer and checked his mail. "I knew it…" he murmured. Naruto scratched his head. "What?"

"Sasuke, I have a mission for you," Kakashi said, eyeing the teen who raised a brow at him. The silver-haired assassin opened his drawer that was attached to his table and handed a folder to him. "Read, this will be your mission." The Uchiha took the cream-colored folder and sat down on one of Kakashi's couches in the office, opening the file and reading its contents. Naruto turned to Kakashi. "And what will I do?"

"This," he answered, making the monitor of his PC face him slightly. "Blood-thirsty Girl was it? Well, she works for my former partner in assassination; her real name is Hyuuga Hinata, Neji's cousin. Their group is named Blood-Lust or BL for initials. Right now, I want you to spy on her and get as much information about her as you can, this will test your abilities and skills in gathering information." Kakashi turned to Sasuke when the raven-haired teen got up and stared at him with wide-eyes. "A joint mission..? What the hell, I don't do missions which involve another assassin working alongside of me."

"You have to, it's sort of, a challenge, you two may be working as partners but what matters really is to see who can kill the most or can get to the target faster. It's like a game, the one who kills the big boss wins." Kakashi explained and took his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing a number and calling the person who owned the digits displayed on the LCD. "Send her in." he said and all their heads turned to the door as it opened and revealed a girl at the age of 23. She had a unique hair color that reached her waist and her eyes were a striking green. She turned to Sasuke who looked back at her, both staring for quite a while before pointing a finger at each other. "You!" they said in unison.

"Haruno, I didn't expect to see you soon." Sasuke said, regaining his composure as he got up and smirked at her. "Back for more?" he teased. Sakura glared at him. "You stole my…" she trailed off, remembering how he somehow saved her from the agents. "Nevermind…" she muttered and also recalled the little research she did earlier. _"Was he the one who killed his entire family?" _she thought, surprised that there was a human living that could care less of his own family. _"Kurenai-san said he was a dangerous and elite killer, once he plans to kill you, he won't hesitate." _

"Back to the point, why exactly are you here?" Sasuke asked, his amused look earlier turning to a serious one. "Don't tell me you're the assassin I have to work with." He muttered but Sakura heard it and her eyes widened. "What? You're my partner?" she nearly yelled and later, Kurenai came in with Hinata following. "All four of you have a mission. Sakura, you will be working with Uchiha here, both of you are fit for this job, while Uchiha here uses his looks to get information from girls, you use your body to lure the targeted men, it's a good combination."

Kakashi grinned. "Like what we used to do, huh Kurenai?" the woman blushed and ignored his statement. "It's a thing of the past Kakashi, it was only a mission and you've won, ever since then, you were my rival and now, I am betting my assassins can beat yours."

"Oh contrary my dear ex-partner, my boys can beat your girls anytime, anyday."

"Is that a challenge Hatake?"

"You bet, Yuuhi."

"Bring it!" and thus, the joint mission of Uchiha and Haruno starts while Uzumaki's spying skills are put to the test and Hyuuga's alertness is being challenged. Four assassins with completely opposite characteristics and different types of killing are put together to see who really is the best.

_**To be continued…

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**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 2: Looks VS Body Language_

"_I'm going to enjoy this mission…" _he thought as Sakura neared her face to him with a daring look. "I bet I can turn you on like other guys I seduced." She whispered in a really low and tempting voice. Sasuke shuddered a bit and looked back at her eyes. "Is that a challenge Haruno?" when she placed her hand on his shoulder and made it roam around his body in a really slow manner until it went all the way down, he got his answer. "Alright, and I bet that I can make you fall in love with me within the limited time for our mission." He said, placing an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him, his face near one of her private parts as his eyes didn't leave her green ones. She returned the smirk and lowered her head. "Bring it on, Uchiha."

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_A/N: It's gonna be hot in the next chapter! Sorry if this was short, just a little introductory, expect lots of Lime/Lemon and action in the soon to come chapters!_


	2. Looks VS Body Language

_A/N: Please help me out here, people are requesting for Konoha High(KH) and Yakuza's sequel but I can only do one, so, decide which you would like to have a sequel by telling me in your reviews or simply by sending me a message. Poll status will be seen in my profile; as of now, three votes for Yakuza and zero for KH._

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**Cold_  
_**

Their target happens to be a really rich drug lord of ecstasy, a.k.a. the imaginary Love Pill. They were to start their mission by tonight in a club and word is, he has a weak spot for girls who are pretty and wild. That's where Sakura comes in, but…

"No way!" Sakura yelled, going back under her covers and using her pillow to hide her head and to not see the boy that she was with inside the room. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pulling on it twice for stress-relief but it didn't quite work. Why did this mission require a girl for a partner anyway? He could've sworn that behind that mask, Kakashi was planning to see something else besides the little wager that he made with his former female partner. Perhaps the guy's been reading too many volumes of Icha Icha Paradise. Heck, even Naruto, who at times was bored, stole one of the man's books and began reading it and then showing the pictures to him, which made him cringe in disgust.

"_And that stupid melanin-less hair even dragged me to a theater to see the movie of it! Geez, I was only eighteen…" _he sighed and remembered how his boss kept making him look at the R-rated part. He could still recall how the main guy slowly undressed the main girl and- _"Shit! There is no way I'm remembering that!" _he turned back to the _sleeping_ figure on the bed.

"Ha-ru-no, I didn't come here at 6:15am in the morning to wake you up!" he nearly yelled and approached the girl, pulling on the blankets, not seeming to be interested in her despite her lack of clothing. She only had on a white long-sleeved blouse that went just three and a half inches above her knees and it was a bit transparent. "You have to do your part…"

"I am not going to flirt with a guy who looks like a cross breed of a gorilla and a pig!" she yelled, tugging at her blanket once again.

"We've been having this argument for almost _two straight hours_ already!" he yelled back, pulling onto the sheet as they started a tug of war. "Get up already so that we can get what we need for the fucking mission." He said, and noticed how the girl pulled so hard at the blanket that he sighed and let go of his end, making the girl fall back from bed. He smirked; he had won the tug of war and got her out of bed.

"Not funny…" she murmured and huffed, looking away from him.

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Looks VS Body Language_**

Sasuke sighed for the tenth time that day. He was standing inside a store full of girl's clothing and waiting _impatiently _for Sakura to finish. He didn't need to shop for clothes for the mission; he can just practically wear anything he wants and go inside the club and get surrounded by girls with just one single look. Sakura, on the other hand, uses her body to lure her targets so she needs to look for any clothing that could very much get any guy's attention.

"_This wouldn't be so bad if there weren't any flirting girls here…" _he thought angrily, having his eyes shut tight and a vein popping at the side of his head. The girls here were giving him their hungry and desiring looks and he just hated the thought of it. "Haruno, will you please hurry up?"

"Will you just wait for a sec?"

"It's already been an hour and a half since we got here…"

"Alright fine, I'll try this on and then we can go."

"Finally…" he muttered.

* * *

They went back to SS's HQ and met up with Kakashi, Kurenai, Naruto and Hinata. During the trip inside the building and going up to the top floor, it was a really quiet one and to Sasuke, he enjoyed the silence but Sakura thought otherwise and crossed her arms, thinking of what to say. 

"So, how did you become an assassin?" she asked.

"None of your business…"

"Well, right now, it is." She said, looking at him as he raised a brow at her. "You're currently my partner now and maybe it's better if we get to know each other just in case we ever need some answers or back-up when we get caught."

Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "Why so interested? Are you already taking a liking to me?" she glared at him. "You wish, Uchiha. As if I'll ever…"

"Hn, who knows?"

"Forget it." And she didn't bother to say anything else. This guy had comebacks, good ones at that, and if she were to keep arguing, she'd lose. _"Smart ass…" _she thought.

They reached Kakashi's office and entered, plopping down on one of the couches and waiting for what their bosses have to say. "Alright you two," Kurenai began. "You already know how the guy looks like and what he does to be so filthy rich, he has a weakness for girls like Sakura and this mission has two requirements, one, stop him from dealing more drugs, the drug called ecstasy, and two, kill him once you've completed the first plan. Uchiha, since you are the heir of your family, you'll have no problem discussing some business with him, be it in a formal party or a club; take note, your target wouldn't care if the girl he lands his eyes on is married or taken or single, what he wants, he gets, so Sakura, show him what you got."

Kakashi continued when the two nodded their heads in understanding. "Takehiko Izegawa will be in one of his famous night clubs tonight along with his other drug dealing friends. Once he sets his eyes on a girl, he'll be taking his own drug and lure the girl to taking a pill as well, and you know what the rest of the story is, he beds them." He turned to Sakura and gave a warning look. "I have to tell you Haruno, this mission requires Sasuke as well, because even if you are good, there's a possibility that Izegawa can overpower you and, more or less, rape you."

Sakura trembled slightly but tried to hide it from the people before her, not wanting to show her fragile side. Sasuke's sharp eyes caught this but decided to talk to her about it when they were alone. "So, Haruno has to flirt with him and I'll have to get him to cooperate with me in business terms, not to mention keep an eye on Haruno to make sure she doesn't get…" he trailed off, not wanting to say the word. He somehow felt uneasy.

"Yes, basically, that's about it. Remember, this mission can be a complete success if the two of you will cooperate. When in the club, pose as couples, when in a formal gathering, pretend to be fiancés." Kurenai added. "Your mission starts tonight."

* * *

In the club that night, a couple entered the very much alive and hyper bar. Neon lights blinked continuously and loud music echoed in their ears. Sasuke pocketed his hands and looked around the place, waiting for Sakura to enter. 

He had on a loose and baggy beige cargo pants, a white long-sleeved shirt and over it was a black short-sleeved one. A sigh escaped his lips when he noticed the looks the girls inside the club gave him. His eyes turned to his _date _who had a spaghetti-strapped dress that was all-black and was really short, about six inches above her knees and if she were to sit down, it would look shorter. _"That's one way to get the guys' attentions…" _he thought as she neared him, her eyes showed how she clearly hated flirting or using her body to attract the males. _"I somehow know how she feels…" _he thought.

"Spot him yet?" she asked when she sat down on a stool beside him, ordering an alcoholic drink. "No, and I don't feel like flirting with these…" he turned to the girls who winked at him and did everything that could get his attention as he cringe in disgust. "Sluts…" he continued and downed his drink. "Well, you have to," she said and got up, pulling his arm. "I found him, now you better get up and start acting as my boyfriend."

Sasuke smirked and stood up facing her. He was a head taller and even if Sakura had heels on, she was still short. "That I wouldn't mind doing, _Sakura_…" He said, bending over to her and licked her lips, having a taste of her strawberry flavored lip balm. "Sweet." He whispered and she felt goose bumps but tried to hide it. _"Two can play this game Uchiha." _She thought evilly as music played in the background and she pushed him back on the stool with his back facing the counter, the smirk not leaving his face as she started dancing to the beat in front of him.

"_I'm going to enjoy this mission…" _he thought as Sakura neared her face to him with a daring look. "I bet I can turn you on like the other guys I seduced." She whispered in a really low and tempting voice. Sasuke shuddered a bit and looked back at her eyes. "Is that a challenge Haruno?" when she placed her hand on his shoulder and made it roam around his body in a really slow manner until it went all the way down, he got his answer. "Alright, and I bet that I can make you fall in love with me within the limited time for our mission." He said, placing an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him, his face near one of her private parts as his eyes didn't leave her green ones. She returned the smirk and lowered her head. "Bring it on, Uchiha."

And when she said that, his smirk widened as she felt herself falling forward towards him, her lips crashing to his as he licked her bottom lip. Refusing to let him win, she tried to pull but his grip around her waist was tight and she tried to think of things to catch him off guard. She dealt with many men but none have ever touched her lips nor even dared to make a move at her, it was always her who started everything and she found this mission, as well as Sasuke, a really great challenge to her. In her mind, she knew she won't get bored at all so, she opened her mouth and beat his tongue by inserting her own inside his mouth first.

She felt his arms on her loosen and acting quickly, she pulled away and turned around, stopping and looking at him over her shoulder, giving a smirk. "Same weakness as the guys I've killed." And she left, walking to the dance floor to see if she can start getting Izegawa's attention. Sasuke leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms, his eyes not leaving the dancing pink-haired girl and his lips turning to a smirk. _"And like all the girls I've fooled, you know that if you didn't pull away, you'll fall for my trap…"

* * *

_

While she was dancing, her eyes turned to the table to where three men were talking, one being their target and the other two were his drug-dealing friends. A sly smile plastered on her lips when Izegawa's _friends _didn't pay attention to him but to her, eyes wide and a slight blood trickling down their noses. She knew that if Izegawa saw her, their first plan was to be a success.

"And so, I was thinking-" Izegawa stopped when he realized that his companions weren't listening but had their eyes affixed on the dancing people. He turned to his guards to see them also looking at where his business partners were gazing. Curious, he followed their eyes and almost immediately had a fountain of blood gush out of his nose. _"That is one hot woman!" _he thought and tugged on his collar, feeling a bit hot when her eyes turned to him and gave a seductive look.

* * *

"Enjoy the kiss, Sasuke?" 

The mentioned young adult turned behind him to see one of his companions in SS, Nara Shikamaru, working as an undercover spy in the bar by posing as a bar tender. He was currently cleaning the glasses and was having an amused smile while grinning at the raven-haired lad. "She's a real beauty if you ask me, but, I already have a girl, so, is she your partner for this mission?"

"No duh, there is no way I'd kiss a girl for no purpose."

"I think you just lost your mind when she started to flirt with you."

"Hn, whatever." And he turned his eyes back to Sakura, seeing how Izegawa had stood up and started to walk closer to her, asking her something as she stopped dancing to the beat. _"Plan A success." _He thought, smirking._ "Looks like Haruno's got game."

* * *

_

He was a bit too close for her liking, he was really too close. She suppressed the urge to glare and furrow her eyebrows and instead, gave a fake smile, her eyes somewhat twitching from the fakeness. Izegawa gave a really sly smile and was slowly wrapping an arm around her waist, failing to be subtle in making his fingers brush against her rear. Inside, she was fuming, somehow, she hated doing this but she had to. This was a mission; she gets paid in big bucks for this so she might as well do what she has to do.

"So, how come I haven't seen you here 'till now?" Izegawa asked, slowly letting his hand go down to her rear and gently squishing it. She controlled the temptation to punch him and pretended not to feel or realize what he did that she smiled all the more and inched closer. "I just came here to have _fun_, care to show me a good time?" she flirted, inside, she wanted to puke. He closed in on her, making his chest touch hers and slowly taking out a pill from his pocket.

Sakura's green eyes spotted the yellow colored pill and would've thought of it as candy if she didn't know that this guy was a drug lord. She also noted how he lifted it and brought it closer to his mouth and then _accidentally _dropping it inside her dress which she pretended to gasp at. "Oh dear, I think your medicine fell inside my dress." She said, faking a pout as he chuckled. "Would you like me to get it for you?" she asked, raising her left hand and placing it over the right strap of her dress, sliding it down _very _slowly. Izegawa felt his pants tighten as he looked at her slightly bare shoulder and was slowly sliding both the straps of her dress down.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw how he tugged onto his collar and was sweating like hell. Smirking inwardly, she had two of the straps slide down and she pushed her chest forward, looked down, pretending to search for the so-called love pill. "I can't seem to find it…" she said, but she can really see where it landed, right in the middle of her breasts. "Maybe you can get it for me?" she asked, giving a flirting look. Izegawa was more than willing to do it and he slowly lifted his arm, ready to insert his hand inside her dress.

"_That guy… is going to fucking grope her!" _Sasuke thought, gripping on the edges of the counter as he kept his eyes on the pair. _"Okay, Haruno can do this, I need to stay calm and not murder that guy… yet… when the time comes… I'll make sure he regrets that…" _he sighed when Sakura turned to him and motioned him to come over. Sasuke got up from his seat and walked over to the pair. Izegawa was only inches from touching her two mounds that were in the size of B or probably C. He thought about it as he continued to lower his hand when a voice spoke, stopping him from doing what he was about to do.

"Ah, you must be Takehiko Izegawa."

The two turned to the new voice and saw Sasuke stop before them, taking a glance at Sakura then back at Izegawa. "I heard that you deal with ecstasy, just the drug I am looking for." He said, pocketing his hands. "Oh, I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself, I am Uchiha Sasuke and I run a company that has been flourishing the moment my late father handed it to me." He said politely, extending out a hand to shake and Izegawa nodded, recognizing the name and he shook hands with the assassin. "I see, my condolence to your father, I have also heard the news about your whole family being…" he trailed off.

"Let's talk about this some other time, I was only looking for my fiancée and I saw her here dancing, then I saw you and immediately recognized you."

"Ah, so this lovely girl is your fiancée?"

Sakura gave a nod as Sasuke placed an arm around her shoulder. "My name is Haruno Sakura, Izegawa-san," she said and leaned closer to Sasuke. "We just went here because I asked Sasuke-_kun _here to lighten up," she turned to Sasuke and gave a fake smile. "It's getting late _dear_, shall we go home now?" Inwardly, Sasuke was smirking at the way she cringed for acting so sweet to him. "Aa, I'm sure Wei is already waiting for our arrival." He turned back to Izegawa and nodded his head to him. "I do look forward to meeting you again, Izegawa-san."

"Ah, perhaps you can come over to a business dinner that I'll be having tomorrow night," he took a small envelope from his suit and handed it to Sasuke who took it with his free hand, reading the exterior letterings. "I'll be glad to have a business chat with you, Uchiha-san, and I do hope we can help each other out in making our work better, and I do hope to see your lovely soon-to-be wife there as well." The target said, eyeing Sakura with lust evident in his eyes and she had to play innocent and give a smile. "Of course, my _dear _Sasuke-_kun _always brings me wherever he goes, right _sweetie_?"

Sasuke turned to Sakura and his mouth twitched, forcing a sweet smile to show to the girl. "But of course, I love you and I want you to be by my side all the time." Inside, they were both blushing furiously and said a few cursed words or insults. "Well then, we better get going, it was nice to meet you Izegawa-san." And they both bowed slightly and left, Sasuke not taking his arm around Sakura off until they reached his car.

He sighed and opened the door for her as she muttered a thank you and got inside. He then went to the driver's seat and started the engine of the car, driving of to the Uchiha estate. She pulled onto her long, pink hair and growled, clenching her fists as she recalled how that guy was touching her butt. "I swear; I'll kill him! How dare he touch me like that? I'm going to burn him alive!" she ranted on and on as her partner had a vein pop on the side of his head.

"Sakura," he said but she just continued ranting. "Sa-ku-ra!" but he was heard by deaf ears. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and gritted his teeth as she kept going on and on about killing Izegawa. "Ha-ru-no-Sa-ku-ra! Blood-thirs-ty-blo-ssom!" he yelled slowly and emphasized every syllable. "What!" she yelled back. "Will you shut up already, you're so annoying!"

"It's not my fault! You're lucky you didn't have to get _groped _by a drug dealer! And man, did you know how irritating it is to almost undress myself in public and let his hand touch my-"

"I get it, alright, but can't you just keep quiet? It's so damn annoying." He muttered, concentrating on the driveway. "Look, I know and understand how hard your role in this mission is, but there's nothing you can do, even if you keep ranting." He gave a deep sigh and waited for the Uchiha estate's gates to open. "Besides, I would've prevented him from doing so." He whispered but she heard it and looked down, slightly blushing. "T-thanks…" she whispered back as he entered the compounds of his home.

He parked the car in his garage and turned off the engine, staying there for a while before turning to the back seat and grabbing a jacket. He handed it to her and told her to put it on and he stepped out of the car. Sakura blinked and got out as well after smiling at the somewhat sweet gesture and put on the blue blazer. It was a bit loose and longer than her dress but at least it covered most of her exposed skin.

"Um, Sa- I mean, Uchiha-"

"Sasuke." He corrected when they reached the front door. "I'd prefer you to call me by my first name; I hate formalities…" he muttered. _"Especially since you're the same age as I am, you make me feel old!" _

"Okay, Sasuke then," she said and turned to the door that opened. Wei greeted them and turned to Sakura then at Sasuke. "Will your guest be staying for the night, Sasuke-sama?"

"Wei," he said, closing his eyes. "Drop the _sama_, it's annoying."

"Fine, Young Master."

"Hn, anyway, yeah, she's staying, also, she is to act as my fiancée, it's for the mission." He explained and got a nod from Wei. "I'll show her to the guest room, just go and get some rest Wei, it's late." And he walked up the stairs, closely followed by Sakura after giving a slight bow to Wei. "Sasuke," he turned his head to her, still walking. "What's the jacket for?" she asked, looking at the blue blazer. He stopped walking and so did she.

"Take it off and you'll know." And he continued his way to his room. She blinked and removed the jacket but just as she slid it off of her shoulders, she quickly pulled it back on, hugging it tighter. The whole house was air conditioned, no wonder her legs felt a bit cold. She followed him inside his room and did the liberty of closing his room door. Sakura leaned on it for a while and watched as he just stood there, his back facing her.

Scanning the spacious room, there was a bed that was good for two. _"Oh yeah, I heard that he's a bit claustrophobic." _She thought, thinking that perhaps a single-sized bed will not do him any good. Just a few inches away from the bed were French windows, leading outside to a balcony where it overlooked the garden of the estate. Turning her head to the left was where the closet, drawers and a desk where a computer was and a few papers and files. To her right was a door leading to the bathroom. Over-all, his room was neat and carpeted in the color of pale blue, the walls a darker shade of blue, giving a cool atmosphere. Like the whole house, his room was air conditioned.

"You can sleep on the bed." He said and went to his closet to look for some clothes for her. She blinked and followed his movements. "But what about you?" she asked.

"I can sleep on the floor; I have a futon here inside the closet."

"But-"

"No buts."

And he stood up and tossed a white shirt and black shorts towards her. She caught it and sighed, then turned to the bathroom to get changed. Scratching the back of his head, he walked over to the balcony and stood there, letting the night wind blow against his face and whisk away his raven hair. Sasuke looked down at the garden as the moonlight brightened up the semi-dim yard. Some of the grasses shone, signaling that they had just had a dose of evening dew, the different colored roses added beauty and color to it. He sat down on the wide banister and leaned back on the wall, bringing up one leg closer to his chest and the other hanging lazily from the outer railing. He rested his left arm on his left knee and continued eyeing the whole place, reminiscing his childhood days, how he and his mother would always water the plants below, how he somewhat developed a liking towards roses and their fragrance. Slowly, he closed his eyes and began to recall his childhood.

"_If I were to compare you to a flower, I'd have to say roses, they are beautiful and all, yet they are also covered in thorns, showing that they may look like they have a really perfect life but the thorn show how they too, have a normal life. There's balance," Mikoto said to her youngest son who listened to her intently. "Someday, Sasuke, you may understand these meanings better, and you'll realize why you are a rose full of thorns."_

"_Ka-san…" _he thought, slowly opening his eyes and eyeing the rose bush. _"I'm like a rose because I may look like I have lived a perfect life, but behind the happy face there's something else that no one knows…" _he sighed and closed his eyes once again, leaning his head back on the wall. "…that I'm alone…"

"Huh?"

Sasuke turned his head to Sakura who stood inside his room, stepping out to join him. His white shirt was a too big for her and one side slightly slid down her shoulders. The black shorts she wore reached her knees and looked baggy for her. "Nothing." He replied and turned back to the view. Sakura rested her elbows on the banister and looked at the full moon, outshining the stars. A smile graced her face and it caught her companion's attention.

"What happened to you anyway? I mean, why are you living alone in a big house?"

"Mind your own business." He answered and closed his eyes again. She sighed and faced him, a determined look in her eyes. "Behind those black eyes of yours, I can see the pain you're going through, you've been alone all this time, and it really hurts you."

"Will you just shut up?"

"No Sasuke, I won't. It's time for you to stop dwelling in the past and start living in the present! Get out of your shell will 'ya? You're being childish! Get rid of that barrier you keep building every single day and melt that frozen heart of yours!"

"Who are you to tell me those things?" he shot back calmly. "You don't even know what happened to me back then. Stop talking like you know everything."

"Stubborn ass," she muttered and turned around, crossing her arms. "I do know what it feels like to be alone. Why the hell do you think am I an assassin? I applied to be one to support my needs, my parents were killed by someone I don't even know, I just heard that it was because of a little business, and I want to find that killer and avenge them." She blinked away her tears and tried to stop her shaking figure. "People think I'm a tough girl, they don't know that I'm only hiding my fragile side, people used my parents' riches and powers, so now, I use people and kill them, it isn't fair that those who deserve to be killed are left untouched or punished."

"You're parents were killed, at least they didn't try to kill you."

Her eyes widened as she turned to face him, shock evident in her facial features. Sasuke only stared back at her with no emotion or whatsoever on his face. "I became an assassin to get rid of people who didn't get their right punishment, you're not the only one who went through a lot of trouble and pain." He shifted a bit and made his sitting body face the whole front yard of the Uchiha compound, Sakura mimicking him as she continued eyeing him. "Just… forget it… like you said, it's no use dwelling in the past…" he gave a smirk and turned to her. "By the way, thanks for giving me a good first kiss."

Her eyebrows knitted together as she raised a fist at him. "You-stole-my-first-kiss!" she said dangerously slow. "Didn't you know how much I've been through to reserve that very first kiss for the one I love? I had to avert my victims' attention to my body so that they won't kiss me and you go appearing suddenly and kissing me! Hell you even frenched me!"

"As far as I can remember, you're the one who inserted your tongue first inside my mouth, and besides, I gave away my first kiss to you too, the only girl I've ever kissed was my mom, on the cheek. As for others, I merely brush my lips on their foreheads or on the side of their faces but never on their lips." His smirk widened as he leaned closer to her while she backed away. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that…" he said in a very low voice.

"Hell no! Why would I enjoy that? It was crappy! It sucked to be honest! Ha, I felt disgusted! You can't imagine how many bottle of mouthwash I consumed just to get rid of-" she never got to finish because he started to crash his lips on her again, leaning on her some more until her back was lying on the wide railing; both his hands on her sides while hers pressed against his chest. When they parted, she stared at him with half-closed eyes and narrowed brows while he was still smirking at her.

"You are such an ass…" she murmured.

"I know." And he got off of her, carried her and dumped her on his bed. "Get some sleep, we still have to do some planning for tomorrow night's mission. Besides, I doubt you have a formal dress with you."

"Hang on," she said, sitting up before he was about to enter his comfort room. "Why am I staying in your room when you have other empty and vacant ones?"

"Because I want you to." And he went inside the bathroom to get changed. Sakura sighed deeply and leaned back on his bed, thinking why she let him win, again. _"That's it, I'm paying you back Uchiha Sasuke." _She thought, closing her eyes. _"I'm going to win our bet, I'll make you fall for me…" _

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 3: Reasons_

"Why I became an assassin is none of your business, unless you tell me your reason, I won't share mine." He said, smirking. Sakura was pissed, really pissed, there was something about that smirk of his that annoyed her to no end and she, basically, was always getting lost in thought, or simply losing whenever he smirked. "Alright Uchiha, I'll tell you my reasons…"

* * *

_A/N: Okay, first few chapters are really just not my thing. I want to make this go slowly and not too rushed, the way I see it, I almost revealed every climax possible so I have to stop and cut back the few chapters. Don't forget to pick which story you want to have a sequel! Only one okay? Thanks so much for the reviews guys! And Akki-chan, I promise I'll make the next chapter longer! Hell, maybe that kiss can make up for it! Thaks also Akki-chan for giving the idea about the moonlight thing!  
_


	3. Reasons

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter three!

* * *

_

**Cold**

It was too warm, and for once in his life, he didn't want to get out of bed, it somehow felt like home, for real, as if he wasn't alone anymore. He hugged the pillow closer to him and took a whiff of its strawberry scent. _"Wait! Strawberry..?" _and if that wasn't enough, his _pillow _moved. Quickly opening his eyes, it widened when he saw a pink-haired girl beside him and her head was resting on the crook of his neck. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and froze when she cuddled closer, a smile on her face. _"Oh, shit!" _he slowly removed his arm from her waist and expertly got up from bed without her knowing. Sitting up, Sasuke gave a sigh of relief and wondered why he couldn't remember lying down beside the girl last night. _"Don't tell me I'm losing the bet we made!" _

She stirred and it alerted him that he immediately got out of bed and watched as she turned her back on him, still asleep. _"Damn, she's a heavy sleeper…" _Sasuke shook his head and went to his closet to get a set of clothes which consisted mostly of black or blue shirts and a few white ones. His pants had the colors of black, dark blue and beige and only a few polo shirts were hung in his cabinet. He got out a navy blue button-up shirt and black pants then his underwear and grabbed his towel, heading for the bathroom, thinking of waking the girl up later, knowing that she'll most likely fall asleep again.

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Reasons**_

_Her green eyes were wide with shock and fear as she continued to watch the men beat up her dad. She was inside her room earlier and heard some yelling and beating that she quietly rushed downstairs to take a peek at what's happening. Her father was covered in a lot of blood and was still being tortured, her mother was screaming as the ripping and tearing of clothes rang in her ears. 'What's going on?' she thought, clearly not understanding why these men were doing this to her parents. _

"_Dad… mom…" she squeaked and caught the attention of the three strangers who turned to her and snickered evilly. She clutched onto the stair's railing and shook with fear, her mother continued to yell at her to escape and her father was mouthing her name and telling her to leave. "Sa…ku…ra… r-run away…" her father coughed out and more blood spilled. _

"_So, this is your little nine-year old Sakura, she's cute." One man slurred, holding a bottle of half-drunk beer. He raised his free hand and motioned the girl to come over but Sakura remained frozen in her spot. "I said come here!" he repeated but she made no motion to move. "Why you little brat!" and the man stomped over but Sakura's dad grabbed onto the man's foot and yelled at Sakura, telling her to run._

_Scared by the tone of use her father shouted, she ran away in her pajamas and bear feet, out in the cold streets. What made it colder was that it was snowing. Even if it was a light fall, she still felt cold and no longer enjoyed this weather, she cried and cried, ran and ran until tripping on a bank of snow, not bothering to stand up as she hugged her knees and cried some more. _

"_Mom… dad…"_

"Sakura,"

"No, stop it…"

"Sakura," he shook her but she just kept muttering words that he couldn't quite tell what she meant. "Sakura, wake up." He whispered but she just immediately sat up and grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him and crying on him as she yelled. He was startled and didn't move for a few seconds before her crying snapped him back to reality. Shakily circling his arms around her waist, he steadied and pulled her closer, running his hand up and down her back in a comforting gesture and telling her repeatedly that it's alright and that she was only having a bad dream. "They… killed them… they… raped my mom… they're… after me…"

"Who?" he asked, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her away slightly to get a good look at her tear-stained eyes; Sakura only hung her head low as tears continued to flow. "I didn't want you to see me like this… I… look pathetic…" she muttered and wiped away her tears furiously, only to be replaced by fresh ones. "I hate myself! I hate how I easily cry!" He only stared at her with half-closed eyes as she continued to talk about things he didn't clearly understand, not minding how his polo was wrinkled and slightly wet with her tears.

* * *

"I'm sorry for suddenly crying a while ago…" she whispered as he arrived with a tray of their food. They were currently in a fast food joint inside a mall and were eating lunch. He sat down and handed her, her food as she mumbled a soft thank you and began eating. Sasuke stared at his food for a while before looking at her and opening his mouth to say something. "Sakura," she looked up at him. "Um… well…" he bit his tongue and sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind…"

"You want to know about my past?"

"…if it's okay with you."

Sakura smiled and then laughed as the boy in front of her looked at her as if she grew another head. "What makes you think I'll tell mine when you won't tell yours?" she grinned and Sasuke blushed slightly in embarrassment and muttered a few cursed words before looking at her. "Well?" she asked.

"Why I became an assassin is none of your business, unless you tell me your reason, I won't share mine." He said, smirking. Sakura was pissed, really pissed, there was something about that smirk of his that annoyed her to no end and she, basically, was always getting lost in thought, or simply losing whenever he smirked. "Alright Uchiha, I'll tell you my reasons…"

"And what did I say about names?"

"Fine, Sasuke." She rolled her eyes and sighed, starting her story. "You see… I was a really high-spirited girl back then; I had great friends and a good life with my parents. Until one night, three men came, they were, I think, my parents' business rivals and they were drunk. As far as I can remember, two raped my mom and one tortured my dad. They saw me and planned on doing the same so I ran away… my dad kept yelling at me to never come back or even look back."

"And have you avenged them yet?"

"Huh?"

"Basically, what every assassins want is revenge, they become killers because of what happened in their past, or just simply for revenge." He took a sip on his cola and continued. "As for Naruto, he wanted to become an assassin to rid the world of unjust and corrupt people, and also because his parents were accused of a crime they didn't commit when he was barely two years old. How he grew up, a close friend of Kakashi took him in, raising him as if he owned Naruto. As much as he wanted to have Naruto to live a normal life, the dead-last found out about his past and didn't want revenge but justice to the world."

"I see…" she whispered. "Well, no, I don't know who those guys were… I don't think I'll ever be able to avenge them, what made me become an assassin was because of the fact that those guys almost got me, if it wasn't for Kurenai-san, I would've ended up like my mom."

"You were… almost…" he hesitated to continue and just remained silent, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Sorry, I never should have asked you to tell me and relieve your memories." She shook her head and gave a bright smile. "Forget it, I mean, like what I said last night, we can't keep on dwelling in the past."

"Yeah, about last night…" he blushed a bit and looked down to avoid her gaze. "I thought about what you said and… maybe… I could open up a bit and…"

"You can start by telling me your past."

"I… I'm not sure if I'm ready for it… to be revealed…"

Sakura smiled and took his hands that were resting on the table they were eating at and clasped them together with hers. "Just take a deep breath and tell me everything one by one." He looked up at her with a small smile and gave a nod before starting to recall his past and telling it to her. "Just like you, I thought that my life was great, that it wouldn't turn upside down, not knowing that it was all a dream shattered to pieces like a broken mirror." He glanced down at his empty plate and thought about his younger years. "I don't exactly know what made me decide to choose this life as an assassin… all I know is… I still don't know if my parents really do love me or not…"

"What makes you say that?"

"They tried to kill me."

* * *

Kakashi placed down his cup of coffee as he waited for Kurenai's reaction. She was shaking and had her crimson red eyes widened. "I didn't believe it at first either." He sighed and leaned back on the chair, eyes not leaving his ex-partner. "So, do you want to back out from our bet or still carry on?" he asked as Kurenai placed down the folder with shaking hands. She continued to eye the photo attached to the front paper as three more are underneath it. "I can't believe it…" she said, reading the whole information over and over again.

"Uchiha Sasuke… current age is twenty-three, at the very young age of nine; he started to become an assassin." She read. "Family status: killed his parents and he has a missing brother that was said to be dead." She took a deep breathe in. "Is this really what your assassins are capable of Kakashi?"

"Not all of them; Naruto is kind-hearted, Shikamaru hesitates at times and Neji often backs out." he said and eyed the papers inside the folder. "Sasuke, on the other hand, I raised him until he was eighteen, when he can live on his own." He took anther sip from his cup and eyed Kurenai. "He is capable of killing, even me, when his mission tells him to."

"But… why?"

"Rough past, I think I'd feel the same if I went through what he's been through." Kakashi shook his head in pity. "His parents were close friends of mine, and when I visited them one night, I saw him on the ground, on his hands and knees, crying silently and before him were his parents' dead bodies. His mom was stabbed right through the stomach, and his father on the heart. What surprised me was that the weapons that killed them were their own katana, the pair that Sasuke uses right now."

"You mean the two with the Uchiha fans attached at the end of the handle?"

"Yes," he sighed. "How he did it was unbelievable, as if he was really destined to be a killer. As you know, the Uchiha mansion has a few hidden cameras and one caught how Sasuke killed them. It was…"

"Brutal..?"

"No," he shook his head. "His parents charged at him with a kunai on each hand, and Sasuke just grabbed the two katana that were sheathed on their waists, he managed to get them and stab his parents before they could even scratch him."

"Are you serious?"

"I know it's impossible, especially since Sasuke was against violence when still a child, his first kill was when he was only eight years old, I trained him when he was nine. The rest of the Shadow Serpents, including me, had our first kill when we were thirteen and above. It's really unbelievable… if I hadn't watched the video; I would never have believed that Sasuke killed them."

"But why would his parents charge at him?"

Kakashi shrugged. "That's the whole mystery, on top of that, Sasuke's brother didn't return that night, after weeks of searching, cops finally declared Itachi dead, so Sasuke inherited all of the Uchiha riches, fortunately, despite the problems and encounters, Wei remained by Sasuke's side, acting as either a father or grandfather to him."

Kurenai nodded and looked outside the window of the café. "I can't tell if Sasuke has had it harder than Sakura or the other way around." Kakashi gave a nod at this. "To me, both of them had a rough past. Sakura was only nine years old and has already witnessed a torture and rape case, plus the fact that she too, was almost raped." He turned back to Kurenai who nodded. "And Sasuke," she spoke. "Only an eight year old and he did not only witness a murder but did so himself, also the whole parent-attacking-their-child case, on top of that, his parents attacked him with murderous intents. It's too much even for a kid."

"Right now, Wei is trying to discover what the cause of his parents' behavior was, Naruto is not only practicing his spying skills but also information gathering regarding Sasuke's past. So far, we still have no results."

"Then, what about the news of the whole Uchiha massacre? I heard that some accused Sasuke of committing the crime." Kurenai bit her bottom lip at this. "You don't think that this was all a fraud or plot to destroy his whole family?"

"Maybe," Kakashi answered. "Although, I have this nagging feeling that Itachi's disappearance had something to do with it."

"How so?"

"Either Itachi killed them on his own, or he was taken away by the real killer."

"All in all, Sasuke killing his parents is only accidental then?"

"Yes," he said, glancing at the busy streets. "It was an accident kill that he didn't know would happen…" Kurenai followed his gaze. "Shadow Serpent's motto…" she spoke and he turned to her as she mentioned it. "_Kill or be killed_, don't you think it's funny how it is related to the boy?" he nodded in agreement. _"Could the motto be a clue?"

* * *

_

"Sasuke, you're…" she felt his hands tighten their grip on hers. She looked at him with wide eyes and sympathy. Having your own parents try to kill you, and then later on, drawing their swords and you kill them.

"I don't understand why they tried to end my life, I don't get why I didn't let them, why I had to defend myself and end up killing them. It haunts me every night…" he confessed, his head hung low and his voice slightly shaky. His bangs were shadowing his eyes that were slightly watery as he refused to cry and let his tears fall. "I became an assassin because I wanted to be heartless, to no longer feel any emotion so that if I grow close to someone, and they suddenly start to kill me, I won't regret it, I won't feel what I'm still feeling."

Sakura pondered over a few things before she gave a small smile and reached out to him, lifting up his head so that his eyes could meet hers. She was a bit startled to see him crying silent tears but didn't remove the smile on her face. "Hey, don't worry, I'll help you find out why they attacked you, everything's going to be okay."

He averted his gaze elsewhere as her hand wiped away his tears. Bet or no bet, he wasn't falling for her, an assassin mustn't love anyone. "Aa." He answered and looked at his wrist watch. "Come on, we still have to get ready for Izegawa's business dinner and you still don't have a dress."

The two of them walked around the whole shopping mall and went inside a store full of formal clothes. Sakura checked some gowns and settled for a red off-shoulder one. It was fit on the upper part up until the hips and then it's loose from there. No slits or anything else that can reveal more besides the shoulder and arms. _"Hmm… this one looks good!" _and she took it inside the dressing room, fitting the gown. It was her right size so she decided to take it.

"You guys are lucky," she said as they stepped out of the mall and went to Sasuke's car. He looked at her with a questioning look as they got inside the blue convertible. "Boys wouldn't have to worry what to wear for formal parties, they just get a tux and pick a color of it while we have to find the right dress and color." She sighed and got out a hair tie, tying her long hair up in a ponytail to prevent it from getting disheveled since the car's speed was making her hair a mess. "Well, suits are also steamy when you wear them." He countered and waited for the gates of the estate to open.

He drove in when it was fully opened and parked it inside the garage. They went inside the estate to get ready and Sasuke called for one of Kakashi's friends to help Sakura be presentable, even if she was against the idea.

"Look, you have to, remember, you caught Izegawa's interest in the club, yes, you have to catch his eye again." He said and left the guest room where Sakura will be staying. She wondered why he let her stay inside his room the other night and now, she has her own room. Looking around, she noticed a few bags there and she opened them to check it out, seeing some of her clothes, along her assassin outfit, and her weapons inside it. A note was on the dresser and she read it.

_Sakura,_

_Kurenai-san and Kakashi-san said that you ought to stay in Uchiha-san's place and he agreed. It will be a lot easier for the two of you to carry on with the mission being under one roof, also, it's in case Izegawa drops by for a visit. I've packed half of your clothes here, most of which are for clubs and casual wears. I also added a few more weapons in case you need them. Call me if you need some more, don't worry about our apartment, I'll take care of it._

_ -Hinata_

She smiled at the note and kept it in one of her bags, and began taking out a few of her clothes. She folded some and placed it inside the closets and drawers while the rest were hung. As for the weapons, she decided to keep it under the bed and ask Sasuke where he hides his later. Glancing at the paper bag where her dress was, she took it out and decided to try on her dress and think up of a hairstyle for it.

"Hey, Sakura,"

Startled, she turned her head to the intruder of the room and blushed when she saw Sasuke standing there with wide-eyes and looking at her. Seconds passed and none of them made a move or uttered a word until she gripped onto her red dress tightly and yelled at him. "Pervert!" and she threw the nearest thing she could grab which was, unfortunately, a hair dryer and thanks to his reflexes, he caught it and closed the door after yelling a quick apology. She breathed in and out repeatedly before setting aside the dress and putting back on her casual clothes. Sakura wondered why she can actually seduce men and managed to even be half-naked in front of them and still have a smirk on her face when she can't do so if it was Sasuke? _"What does he have that my victims don't?" _she thought and recalled how he was staring at her. _"Hmm maybe I'm winning the bet…" _

A knock on the door was heard and she told the visitor to come in. A woman appeared who had her hair tied up, making the end spiky. A grin was on her face as she entered the room with a few accessories. Sakura eyed the things this woman had, most of which were hair pins, sprays, make-up and etc. "Hello Haruno Sakura, I will be your personal-"

"Ah, can we just skip to your name, I think I already know why you're here." She said, laughing nervously. "Okay then Haruno, I am Mitarashi Anko." She made a peace sign. "Now let's see you in the gown alright?" Sakura nodded and changed into her red dress as Anko looked at her from head to toe then glanced at the clock inside the room. "Hmm I have an hour and a half to make you look presentable since the rest of the thirty minutes will be used t get to Izegawa's, it's a bit far and you'll never know when there might be traffic." She grinned and made Sakura sit down and face the mirror. "Okay, let's get started shall we?" and Anko took a brush and some hair pins and started to think up of a hairstyle.

* * *

Pacing around the living room, he gave a sigh and stopped in front of a large family photo displayed in the room he was currently in. His eyes stared at his father's stern but gentle look, to his mother's loving and caring eyes and happy smile. A sad look cast his eyes as he remembered the night he had killed them. Next, his onyx orbs turned to his almost-look-alike brother who had a smirk on his face and lastly, to his seven-year old self, a real smile on his face and the look of a happy kid. _"Now, I don't even remember being that happy…" _he thought, averting his gaze to the incoming footsteps of Wei who carried a tray of tea cups and a tea pot, steam coming out from its spout.

"Young master, why the long face?"

"…nothing." He said, taking his hands out of his pocket and accepting the tea cup from Wei. He turned back to the picture and continued to reminisce his past. "Careful not to spill tea on your suit Sasuke." Blinking, the said boy turned to Wei who smiled at him. "I've known you since you were a child Sasuke, and I know what you're thinking."

The 23-year old Uchiha smirked and turned back to the portrait. "If so, why did you ask me?"

"Just making sure, you never know how much one can change over the years."

"Yeah," he agreed and turned to the sofa and sat down. _"Just like how mom and dad suddenly changed…" _a cough interrupted his thoughts as both men looked to where it emitted from. There, Anko stood with a big grin and turned her head to the top of the staircase as the two followed her gaze. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Sakura standing there with a light blush on her face all dressed up in her red dress. It looked elegant on her especially since she had her hair in a bun like a Japanese princess had. Holding it in place was a slightly long silver pin, at the end of it were three strings which had metal-like cherry blossoms. Anko thought that it would suit her because of her namesake. Sasuke gazed at her face as she descended down the stairs in a lady-like manner. She wasn't wearing heavy make-up, just a red lipstick that was put on her lips very lightly and a lip gloss to make it look shiny and…dare he say, kissable? Light eye shadow and powder was applied and that was about it. Slowly, he got up, his body moving automatically towards her when she reached the end of the stairs.

Their eyes met and gazed at each other. _"Oh no, don't tell me I'm already falling for his looks…" _she thought and blinked, looking away from his onyx eyes that continued to stare at her. She admits that seeing him in a black suit, looking so formal, made his looks more irresistible; as she did so, Sasuke noted the gold earrings that were dangling, they were perfect for her, it was simple and it suited her, the color of gold. He smirked, seeing the blush on her face. He offered his arm to her as she looked and accepted it, the blush not leaving her face. "Hey, you look great." He whispered in her ear and lead her towards the sofa where Anko, miraculously, took a camera from nowhere and took a picture of them. "Ah, young love, sweet love!" she grinned. Wei smiled at the couple and offered tea to Sakura as she took it and smiled her thanks. Both took a seat as the other two adults left them.

"Okay, since this is a formal party, you don't have to seduce or anything, act like the exact opposite of your assassin self, you know, the helpless-girl type."

"Geez… that's even harder." she muttered and he only smirked at her. "Actually, I thought you weren't the Sakura I know after coming down from the stairs, that's a good enough act." She slightly blushed and looked down to avoid his eyes. "In fact, you're already doing a pretty good job."

"What, you mean being this shy and quiet and-"

"Lady-like," he finished for her and took a sip from his tea. "And before I forget," he took out something from his black pants' pocket and eyed it for a moment. Sakura's eyes observed the navy blue rectangular box coated in velvet, thinking that perhaps what was inside was something really expensive. "This belonged to my mom when she was still alive, according to her will, she wanted me to have this and do whatever I want with it." He positioned himself to face her and opened the box for her to see the content. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened a bit in gasp and shock; inside the box was a silver necklace and attached to it was a tear-drop shape with silver outlining and the inside was made of a sapphire gem. "Like it?" he asked, seeing her reaction. She gave a nod and he smiled slightly and got up, walking closer to her. "I want you to have it."

"Wh-why me?"

He shrugged. "You're the first girl I ever became friends with, maybe even the last, so you might as well have it." She got up and he put it around her neck, taking a step back to see how it looks on her. "Suits you." Sakura didn't know what to say or do so she just looked down and whispered a thank you to him, cheeks slightly red, matching the color of her lips, which his eyes found attracting. Sasuke raised his right hand and had his fingers touch her warm cheeks, pushing away some of her pink bangs to get a better look of her face. He leaned closer to her and lowered his head a bit, his mind seemed to be blank and his eyelids slowly becoming heavier as each second passed. Sakura felt his hot breath on her face before she realized what he was going to do. Automatically, she reacted by closing her eyes and staying still, leaning onto the palm of his hand that rested on her cheek. Only a few more millimeters before their lips could lock when Wei came waltzing in nonchalantly, awakening them from their bliss.

"Before you forget Young Master, the ring that is to play as Ms. Haruno's engagement ring, is on the table." Anko followed suit with a stick of dango in her hand as she took a piece from it, chewing and savoring its sweetness. She noticed how the two young adults were blushing and how close they were that she nudged Wei and muttered and "wrong timing old man" to him. He raised a brow, wondering what she meant but she just waved it off. "Anyway, I'll be going now, please enjoy the rest of the night."

Once the two were left alone again, Sasuke retrieved his hand from her face, feeling the warmth fade and he turned a bit, glancing at the casing of a ring. "Right, you also need to wear a ring in case Izegawa questions our relationship." He took the box and opened it, revealing a gold ring with a sparkling ruby-red diamond displayed on it. Taking her left hand, he placed the ring on her ring finger as her face continued to heat up. When he was done, she admired the ring and how it shone under the chandelier's light in the living room. _"It even matches with my dress." _She giggled inwardly and accepted Sasuke's outstretched hand. _"And he's even playing as a gentleman, how nice." _She smiled brightly when they stepped out and a limousine was waiting outside. He opened the door for her, beating the chauffeur to it. The driver only gave a smile and proceeded to the driver's seat to start the car as soon as the two went inside.

* * *

"So, I have to act as the opposite of who I truly am?" she asked, not sure if she got what his idea was about. "Yeah, if Izegawa liked you as Haruno Sakura, let's see if he'll like you more as another." He said and rummaged through a bag, finding what he was looking for and handed one of the two things to Sakura. "It's a communicator; at least if we ever get separated I can still contact you and make sure he isn't touching you yet." As he said that, s slight blush crept across his face and he averted his gaze elsewhere, putting on the small microphone inside his collar. "Um… where am I going to attach this..?"

Sasuke turned to her and remembered that she was wearing an off-shoulder dress which means her neck till shoulder is exposed. _"Oh crap!" _he thought and sighed, thinking on where she could put it. "Your bangs hides your ear, maybe you can put it there."

"And how can I talk to you?"

"It's a different kind of communicator, even if you do dance with Izegawa, his voice can also be heard through it, that thing can cover a sound made in a distance of five-seven feet. If ever someone shouts ten feet away from you, it would be like that person shouting directly in my ear."

"I should have Kurenai-san order these things from Kakashi-san."

"You can't, it's only designed for SS members, but in your case as being my partner, you're an exception." She rolled her eyes. "Lucky me…" and turned to the window to look at the scenery. "How long before we get there?"

"We're here."

The car had stopped in front of a large gate and behind the bars was a mansion about 20-feet high but it could be bigger. Stepping outside, the two looked at the many rich guests entering the doorway and the number of security guards and dogs walking about. _"Looks like guns aren't allowed inside." _Sasuke took a step back as the driver came behind him, taking the gun away from his hands. "Go home and tell Wei to have Anko drive my car once I make a call, and make sure it has other weapons." He whispered.

"Uh… which car sir?"

"…the blue one."

And the driver nodded and got inside the driver's seat to do what he was instructed to do. Sakura waited for him to reach her side and linked his arm with hers while he had both his hands inside his pockets. "You do have a combat knife with you right?" he asked and she nodded, running a hand over her right thigh. "Good, because right now, I only have my hands."

"Okay… so maybe we need a plan first?"

"No," he said as they stepped up the door and he showed the guards their invitations before proceeding to enter the big mansion. "Just go with the flow."

"Uchiha-san and Haruno-san," their target said, walking towards them followed by a few other civilized people. "Welcome, how do you like the snazzy place?" he asked in a hint of boasting. Sasuke pretended to look around and gave a small smile. "Hmm not bad, it's really a big one Izegawa-san." He said as politely as he could and turned to Sakura who still had her arm linked with his. "What do you think Sakura?"

"It almost feels like home as well," she smiled. "But of course, I feel more at home when we get back to your house." She grinned and Izegawa laughed. "Of course, you two are after all, engaged." He turned to his friends. "By the way, this is Uchiha Sasuke, and his soon-to-be wife, Haruno Sakura." The two men and one woman looked at them and nodded their heads as the two undercover assassins returned the gesture of acknowledgement. "Uchiha-san, you are still very young yet you are left with such a big fortune and company to handle, how do you cope with it?" the man, who was in his early forties asked with his wife clinging to his arm. "I'm not exactly sure, but I guess it runs in the family." He said and they just chuckled. Sasuke sighed inwardly _"Okay… I didn't think it would be funny…" _

"Oh, I forgot, this is Ryuen Tsukishi and his wife, Ichiyo," Izegawa introduced. "And this is their son, Kenzo." The two one again nodded their heads as the three gave a smile. "Well then, if you two are hungry, there's a table full of gourmet meals set up and there's music playing if you want to dance, feel free to do whatever you want." Izegawa said and turned around as the three people went away as well.

"Do whatever we want huh?" Sakura asked slyly. "How's about we take a tour by ourselves?"

Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "Maybe a little later, once I get Izegawa to talk to me about the drugs." He said and pulled the girl. "In the meantime, let's steal the spotlight." And he wrapped an arm around her waist and clasped the other with her free hand. She looked at him with a surprised look, thinking that he wouldn't dare dance right now. A smirk answered her. "If you're asking, yes, I am going to make you dance with me whether you like it or not."

"B-but I'm only good at dancing in the club and-"

"Sakura, Sakura," he shook his head and leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "Are you forgetting that you're with an Uchiha?" and as he said it, he began to move with the music, taking her along, making it look like they were both expert dancers. "Just sway with me and I'll make you dance."

True to his words, people did stop their conversation and started to watch the young couple. Izegawa eyed the two with interest and noticed that some of the couples inside began to follow their lead. _"These two have potential…" _he turned to face the Tsukishi family. "Why don't you two dance and I'll keep Kenzo company?" the two thought for a while before nodding and stepping onto the dance floor, not wanting to be outshined by the rest. "So Kenzo, what do you think of Uchiha and the soon-to-be one?"

"Hmmm I must say, Uchiha-san is lucky to get Haruno-san as his fiancée."

"I'd say they're both lucky." He smirked. "Too lucky for me to accept."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, I invited Uchiha over to talk about some business, I think it's time I start now, why don't you get better acquainted with his blossom?" Izegawa suggested, taking a sip from his martini glass. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind, business is business after all."

"I guess." And he and Kenzo walked over to the couple.

* * *

"Hey, eyes lock onto me." His voice called out to her and she brought her head up so that their eyes can once again meet. "That's better, when you dance, you have to keep your eyes locked onto your partner and avoid looking down." She gave a nod. _"Unfortunately, it's hard to not look down because aside from stepping on your feet, your gaze on me makes me blush and I will all the more lose our bet!" _

"Sasuke," he raised a brow. "Izegawa is coming over."

And a hand was placed on the Uchiha's shoulder as both stopped and turned to Izegawa who was with Kenzo. "I'm sorry to interrupt the two of you but I would just like to discuss some business matters with your fiancé Haruno-san, is that okay?"

"Oh, sure, don't mind me." She smiled. Izegawa returned the smile and led Sasuke elsewhere but before he left, he turned back to Sakura and gave a knowing look which she nodded to in understanding. "I'll be back, okay?" he asked and gave a light kiss on her forehead as she nodded, watching the two walk off elsewhere.

Kenzo offered a hand to her. "May I?"

"Oh, maybe later, I'm sort of tired right now." Sakura gave an apologetic smile and Kenzo nodded in understanding. "Then perhaps a little walk around Izegawa-san's garden?"

"I guess…" she said uncertainly. _"Is this guy hitting on me?"_

"Or would you prefer me to tour you around the house? I know it by heart since I've been here for more than a dozen times."

"Oh sure, I'd love to." And inwardly, she smirked. Things seem to be going pretty well.

They both walked up the marble staircase and turned to various corners with Kenzo telling her which room is used for meetings, work, free time, etc. Sakura only half-listened as she began to look around, trying to find something they'll need for a mission. "And also, one of Izegawa's favorite rooms," Kenzo said, stopping as she did so as well. He had a glint in his eyes that told her that something was wrong. He opened the door and revealed to her a room with a lot of fog and ice. The cool air came blowing against her and she shivered slightly.

"This room, is where his dead clients are," and Kenzo smirked, snapping his fingers as two men appeared all of a sudden and held onto Sakura. She squirmed and stepped on one of the men's toe and elbowed the other, then tried to make a run for it but Kemzo acted quickly and grabbed her around her waist, pulling her back and pinning her on the wall. Sakura gasped a bit loudly and watched as Kenzo neared her snickering, the two men holding onto her legs and feet to keep her from escaping.

"Tsukishi-san, what're you doing?"

"I'm doing you, as well as Izegawa-san a favor," she looked at him questioningly as he smirked and leaned closer to her neck and ear, breathing on it. "Izegawa-san never got to finish what he was supposed to do when you were still young, he let you go untouched, it's a waste to let someone like you go to a killer like Uchiha, who killed his own family." Sakura shook her head, not liking where this was getting at. "No, Sasuke-kun didn't kill them!" she was son absorbed by the things happening that she didn't realize that she had just attached the word "-kun" to her partner's name. "I see, so you two do have a relationship, all the more I'll enjoy fulfilling what Izegawa failed to do, besides, don't you miss your parents? After I'm done with you, you can join them in the other world, and your body can also join theirs in the freeze room right behind me."

"N-no… let go of me!" she yelled.

* * *

"Sakura!" Sasuke said all of a sudden which caused Izegawa to stop talking. He turned to the older man and glared at him, his infamous Uchiha glare. "What are you doing to her?" he can still hear her voice of not agreeing to what Kenzo had said and he could still hear the said boy snickering evilly. Izegawa smirked at him. "Uchiha Sasuke, your brother is a famous killer, there's no doubt that you are one as well, since after all, you killed your own parents in your own house."

"I told you, they died in an accident."

"Nice try, Shadow Assassin," he said and Sasuke's eyes slightly widened but turned back to a glare. "I have my sources, now, if you do as I say, I'll lead you to where your fiancée is."

"Damn you…" he muttered. _"Shit, Sakura… please be okay…" _

Izegawa lead him to the staircase followed by three bodyguards tailing them. Sasuke pocketed his hands and fingered his cell phone, sending a message to Kakashi for back-up. Maybe memorizing the letters of each keypad proved to be useful since now, no one noticed that he had just asked for help and it was also a good thing that he had memorized either Kakashi or Naruto's phone number.

When they reached where Kenzo was, Sasuke immediately rushed to him and pushed him off of Sakura. "You fucking bastard!" he yelled and knelt down beside Sakura on one knee, helping her sit up yet still glaring at Kenzo. Sakura shook and hugged herself, near to crying. Her hair was a mess and so was her dress. She flinched slightly when Sasuke grabbed her shoulders to make her look at him. "Sakura, hey, snap out of it."

She still continued trembling and it only made him mad. Taking off his black overcoat, he wrapped it around the girl and placed his left hand on her left thigh where her blade was. She looked up at him and he gave a slight nod and stood up, facing the men with them. "What is it that you guys want?"

Izegawa chuckled and walked closer to them. "To finish my unfinished mission, and that is to _break_ Sakura the way I did to her mother, another is for me, Takehiko Izegawa, to finally eliminate the remaining Uchiha and take over your company."

And he took out a gun, aiming it at the Uchiha's head. "Say goodbye, Uchiha Sasuke."

And a loud bang echoed in the hollow walks of the hallway.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 4: Seriously_

"What're you talking about?" she asked above a whisper when he went on top of her and had her back lying on his bed. "You can't be serious." But he only looked at her with longing and love. "I'm serious, you win." And he captured her lips in his.

* * *

_A/N: I won't be updating for more than two weeks, I've got exams… thanks for reviewing! _


	4. Seriously

_A/N: Yes! My exams are done and I can do my fictions! Happy days are here again! Hehe, here's the much awaited chapter four of Cold! Enjoy as always! Lime or Lemon? All up to you on how you view this.

* * *

_

**Cold**

Her eyes dilated in shock when she saw him above her, a slightly pained smirk on his face. Even in his situation, he was still able to smile as he looked at Sakura, one of his eyes shut tight from the pain he felt as the other looked on at her with worry and relief all at the same time. "You… okay?" he asked weakly, blood continuing to trickle down his left shoulder where a bullet was.

"Sasuke… you shouldn't have done that…" she said, fighting the tears that threatened to wet her eyes. "I could've dodged that bullet on my own! Why did you have to get in the way?"

"Heh," he said, still smirking. "You're really annoying, you know that?" he continued. "You weren't in your right mind to think, besides, you wouldn't be able to dodge that bullet since it was aimed straight to your heart, it was only a trick when Izgawa aimed it at me." He got off of her and held onto his wound. "Che, damn it…" he muttered and glared at the men before them.

"Lucky, but this time," Izegawa pointed the gun at him. "this is no trick." And he once again aimed it at Sasuke's head. "Time to die."

_Click_

"What the-!"

_Click, click, click_

Sasuke smirked and Sakura blinked at what was happening. "Looking for this?" said a voice from above and all but Sasuke looked up, to see a grinning blonde haired man waving the cartilage of the gun. "I'm too fast for you guys to see me, only those with special eyes can see my movement when I use my specialty."

"Damn, you're late Naruto."

"Hehe, heroes arrive late you bastard."

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Seriously**_

"Anyway," Sasuke said, getting up and still clutching onto his wound. "Takehiko Izegawa, you either let us take you to the police, or have us kill you, take your pick."

"Neither, I plan to kill all of you, even that blonde idiot above-" he looked up but saw no blonde boy. Naruto was now behind him and he poked the man at the back, really hard. "Over here grandpa."

When he turned around, he was gone again. Izegawa heard a katana being unsheathed and slashed, then a few cries of pain and then the blade brought back to its sheath and when he faced Sasuke, he saw that his eyes were red and that three of his men were killed easily and fast. "How?"

"Like you said earlier, I'm an assassin." Izegawa and Kenzo made a run for it but was blocked by a smoke bomb. Naruto grinned. "Here's where the Hyuuga eyes come to work!" and next, the two saw a figure of a young girl who had white eyes and short hair, holding onto a kunai on each of her hand and slashing at them.

As soon as the smoke had cleared, they saw the two men on their hands and knees covered in lots of cuts and panting heavily; before them stood Hinata in her assassin outfit similar to Sakura's.

"Yo, this is your mission you two, finish it." Naruto said, turning to face them. He too, had on his SS uniform; a black trench coat over a black shirt and blue denim pants. "Besides, that suit is somewhat close to our uniform."

Sasuke smirked and took out some thing nylon strings and looped them around the two, binding them in a vice like grip. "Shadow Serent binding, I take it you two are having a hard time breathing." He turned to Sakura. "They're all yours."

"W-what?" said Naruto, Sakura and Hinata in disbelief. "You can't be serious!" they all said again.

Sasuke shook his head and gave a small smile. "I think Sakura deserves it, she needs to avenge her parents and her self. I only kill for the heck of it." Sakura looked at the two men and got up, taking Sasuke's katana. "How about I kill them using your weapon? I think it's also a good enough vengeance for you since he plans to run the company which your father worked hard on."

He smirked at her and she took it as a yes and unsheathed the sword, admiring its shiny metal blade and how fine and sharp it was despite the years and many times it has been used. "Fine metal from an overseas country, made specially for the Uchiha clan." She studied.

"Smart," he commented. "It's been used from generation to generation." He explained and she awed at it and felt honored for being the first one who didn't have Uchiha blood to use it. "Go enjoy yourself." He added and she smirked. "Gladly." And rushed towards the two, slowly cutting and slicing their arms and legs off, making them scream in pure agony.

"Sakura, better make it quick, I hear agents and security coming." Naruto said, perking his ears. The pink-haired assassin nodded and with one slash, cut off their heads, dislocating them from their original positions. Sasuke loosened the string and pulled it back and kept it after fixing it.

"We'd better get out of here." Hinata said and turned to the window. The three nodded and soon, shards of glass dropped onto the grassy ground, followed by four figures landing gracefully on the soil then quickly getting up and rushing towards a sleek black car. Naruto got on the passenger sat, Hinata got on the back, followed by Sakura and lastly, Sasuke. "Move it Neji!" The blonde yelled and the car started zooming out of the Izegawa vicinity.

"You don't look so good Uchiha." Neji commented, seeing Sasuke's wound on the rearview mirror. "Better get that treated."

"Che, it's just a scratch." He muttered.

"Tsk, listen to your elders Sasuke."

"Yes grandpa…"

"You know what I mean." Nejo narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

* * *

Sasuke flinched at the pain but suppressed the urge to cry it out. His pride always got to him and somehow, it was hard to get rid of it. Sakura only concentrated on bandaging his wound properly, making sure that it wasn't too tight or too loose. "If you can't handle the pain, just scream."

"No way- Ow!" he yelped and she smirked as he glared.

"All done." She said in a sing-song voice. Sasuke muttered a thanks and put his shirt back on. "So, why did you let me kill them? You know that SS would lose the bet since you let me win."

"Yeah, but you didn't."

"Huh?"

He smirked. "You used my katana, so you wouldn't be able to kill them if you didn't use my weapon. Maybe it was a good thing that NAruto only brought mine."

"Why you- you're so unfair!" she poked his injury and he yelped yet again, making her show a satisfied smile. "Oh well, there's still the other bet." She said, looking up at his ceiling. "And mind you, I'm still not attracted to your so-called looks." She stuck her tongue out at him and had a teasing smile. He only looked at her and studied her features. She had a fine complexion and everything about her just made him weak. Not thinking straight, he suddenly captured her stuck out tongue into his mouth and her eyes widened at his sudden actions.

When they parted, Sakura was speechless and Sasuke still had the same look on his face. His eyes were half-closed and still looking at her. "S-Sasuke..?"

"You win."

"What're you talking about?" she asked above a whisper when he went on top of her and had her back lying on his bed. "You can't be serious." But he only looked at her with longing and love. "I'm serious, you win." And he captured her lips in his.

She slightly pushed him away, confused at his actions. He's done this before but not this serious. "What do you mean by 'you win'?"

"You know what I mean Sakura," He said, lowering his head to her right earlobe and nibbling on it, making her whimper and shiver. "You won our bet, the bet we made in the club." He whispered and his hand made its way to the button of her white top, slowly undoing it to get access to her neck as he started to suck on her skin, marking her.

"H-hey, s-stop it Sasuke, this isn't funny…" she murmured, slightly scared of what he was doing yet somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted this but she refused it.

Sasuke lifted his head up to look at her. "This isn't a joke," he said. "I don't know why I'm having this feeling, I don't know how I fell for you, but when I heard you scream back in Izegawa's house, when you were about to be killed and when you had the look of fear in your eyes, I just started to slowly realize this," he lowered his head again to hers. "I love you…" and he locked his lips with hers, closing his eyes when they made contact and he held onto both her wrists, placing them at the side of her head, preventing her to move or push him away.

Sakura shut her eyes and clenched her fists. She was still confused of her feelings towards him, whether she feels the same or just wanted him to be her friend. Never the less, she only noticed now that she relaxed and returned his kiss.

When he felt her struggling stop, he moved his hands up to clasp her hands with his and she mimicked it, intertwining her fingers with his. He parted slightly and licked her bottom lip, asking her to open her mouth. She did so, lost in thought, feeling his tongue meet her own. His clasp on her hand loosened and she looped her arms around his neck.

* * *

"You're kidding..!"

Naruto shook his head and grinned as the girl that sat beside him only fiddled with her kunai, not her fingers. Kurenai smirked at Kakashi's wide eyes. "There is no way that my top assassin purposely loss!"

"Better believe it Kaka, Sasuke is finally showing hormones."

"Looks like I win Kakashi, your shadows are nothing compared to my Blood-thirsty killers!" she laughed an evil laugh and a chibi Kakashi cried in defeat, still in uttermost shock that his best assassin, the most stoic one at that, would lose to a girl, on purpose at that! "Naruto, details!"

"That's it, he likes her."

He turned to Hinata, in desperate need for a better explanation than what the blonde gave him. Hinata only gave a smile and nodded at Naruto's answer. "That's all the details Kakashi-san, and I bet Sakura likes him as well."

Kurenai stopped her victory dance and eyed Hinata with her jaw dropped. "Sakura..? Having feelings? As in Haruno Sakura, actually liking a guy?"

"Yeah, just how I like Hinata!" Naruto blurted out and earned a blush from Hinata who looked at him with wide eyes. Naruto realized this and turned red as well, quickly covering his mouth and gulped as he felt an evil aura emitting from behind. He whipped his head around and laughed nervously at Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's overprotective cousin.

"Why you-!" and from afar, you could hear the faint cries of Naruto and the battle yells of Neji, including Hinata's meek voice of stopping her cousin, Kakashi's chant of "it can't be" and Kurenai's silence.

* * *

Sakura awoke at the sound of chirping birds and was greeted by the sunlight. She shut her eyes and opened them slowly, adjusting to the new brightness as she looked at the balcony, the windows open and the white curtains swaying with the early morning breeze. She squint harder and saw Sasuke leaning on the railing as if almost sitting on it with his hands in his pockets, eyes looking into the horizon as if thinking of something, he was clad in a white shirt and navy blue jogging pants that were loose and baggy, which she assumed was what he wore last night.

Last night…

She replayed what happened between them last night, how she moaned and called his name, how he grunted at times, fumbling with the buttons of her shirt. She smiled slightly and slowly sat up, observing him from her pot on the bed. She also recalled how she told him that she loved, no, loves, him too. This time, she was really sure that she had feelings for him which is more than just friendship. Sasuke wanted her, and she wanted him, so they both gave what the other wants, and they both got what they desire and longed for.

Sakura pulled her knees close to her chest, the rim of her white long-sleeved blouse revealed her white undergarment, and since it was somewhat see-through, if she were to stand up, she would almost look half-naked but she didn't mind that at all. She was a killer who used her body to kill, and for once, she used her body last night to love.

Although he didn't look at her, he could tell what she was doing, where she was looking and what her facial expression was. A gentle smile was on her face, her right hand played with her hair, combing it with her small digits. Her left hand, meanwhile, rested on her knees that were pulled closely to her chest. He closed his eyes, perverted thoughts entering his mind. Damn that porn book that Kakashi reads, damn the creator and the movie of Icha Icha Paradise.

"_But it was a good help to last night's incident." _

He smirked at the thought and opened his eyes; the sun's rays greeting him again, a few sparrows flew by, chirping, singing a sweet song that was untitled. Two perched onto the railing near him, pecking at invisible seeds and glancing at him from time to time. Sasuke unconsciously took out his left hand and extended his index finger towards one. It first backed away a bit and observed his hand. Sensing no danger, it perched and secured its claws onto his digit, making sure that it wasn't too tight as he drew the animal near him, giving a small smile to it as it looked back at him with round onyx orbs similar to his, only it had an innocent look, he, had a look of calmness; that was it.

Its other companion, feeling a bit left out, flew towards them and rested atop his left shoulder where he slightly winced but waved the pain off. His injury was getting a bit better, thanks to the medical treatment Sakura expertly did. It made him wonder if she really was a killer.

His obsidian eyes caught sight of a flock of sparrows, flying in the air, headed elsewhere and he smiled again, turning to the two birds that made him their tree. "You might want to spread your little wings and fly right now, your friends are leaving." As if they understood what he said, the two flew away, following the flock.

"Who would've thought an assassin like you had a mellow side."

Sasuke turned his head to the female who greeted him with a warm smile and her hands clasped behind her back. He watched as she approached him and also leaned onto the banister. She rested her elbows on the wide rail and turned to him over her shoulder since he was leaning with his back. "You're the first one who has ever seen me like this for a long time." He said, his voice surprisingly soft and normal, not monotonous.

"Guess that makes me feel proud again huh?" she grinned. "I bet I'm the first one you ever bed."

"Shut up…" he muttered, crimson evident across his face and she giggled. "I'm right, huh? You use girls to get information, with your looks, you can just bed anyone, yet you didn't, that's pretty rare to find in guy in today's world."

"Maybe if I wasn't a killer, I wouldn't be like this." He said truthfully and lowered his head a bit as she gaze at the morning sun. "It doesn't matter," she said and turned to face him, one hand resting on the banister. "You're still the same Sasuke-kun I love and will always love."

He smiled back at her and extended his right hand to touch and caress her face as she leaned on it, eyes half-closed and both of her hands wrapped onto his right one. Sasuke leaned down on her and kissed her forehead, a light and sweet gesture of thank you.

_Ring. Ring._

Sasuke heard his phone and walked back inside his room with Sakura tailing behind and stopping by the balcony's French windows and leaning on it. She watched him flip the flap open and answer the caller.

"Hello?" he answered. "No, why?" he asked and later on, he suddenly dropped his phone on the carpeted floor, his eyes wide with shock and he was slightly shaking. Sakura heard Naruto's voice calling her now boyfriend's name over and over again but the Uchiha seemed to be deaf to every word the blonde yelled. Sakura picked the phone and was about to answer Naruto when Sasuke closed the flap, his bangs shadowing his eyes. She knew that something was up and she wanted to know what Naruto told him that bother him this much.

"Sasuke..?"

"He's… back…"

Sakura raised a brow and was startled when he suddenly pulled her into a hug, a really tight one and she didn't know what to do. He started to cry, something that Sakura was new to. She did recall how he almost broke down when he told her of his past, now, he's already… shedding tears.

"Who's back?" she asked, returning the hug and pulling him gently down the bed to sit and talk. She let him rest his head on her lap and waited for him to speak as she continued to stroke his hair and comfort him.

"My brother…"

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: "Chapter 5: Brothers united_

He didn't say anything when he saw him, his older brother, the on he idolized, the one who didn't return the night he had accidentally killed his parents, the brother he had missed, the man who was considered dead, the Uchiha who he no longer knew, was right in front of him.

* * *

_A/N: Crappy chapter… review please!_


	5. Brothers Unite

_A/N: Thanks for reviewing everyone! I posted chapter one of Fallen so for those who can't wait for it, read! I posted the first one as a slight teaser! I removed Konoha High, Haplos and Rainy Days because my brother needed those three stories for a fanfiction book here in the Philippines. Anyway, here's chapter 5!

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_

**Cold**

He sighed and pocketed his phone again. Everyone looked at him as Naruto just shook his head while the rest turned back to the subject. "So, did he say anything?" Hinata asked, wanting to get rid of the awkward silence. Naruto only looked up and turned to the somewhat look-alike of Sasuke. "You've got some explaining to do."

"I will tell you the whole story but I want my brother to be here to hear it."

"I don't think he'll stay to hear it," Kakashi said, crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair. Kurenai stood beside him like a guard, Naruto sat beside Hinata and Itachi stood in front of the desk of the silver-haired man. "Knowing Sasuke, I think he'll just look at you then leave."

He narrowed his eyes at the older man. "It wasn't my fault Kakashi, you among others know that fact very well." Naruto gulped at the tensed air. "What do you mean by Kaka-san knowing about your disappearance weasel, I mean… shouldn't you have at least called or left a note for teme?"

"Idiot," the older Uchiha murmured. "I would have if _he _didn't threaten to kill my little brother."

"Who?"

"The snake-eyed bastard," he answered. "The one who was responsible for mom and dad's strange behavior, the one who is feared by many," he paused for dramatic effect. "Orochimaru..."

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Brothers Unite**_

Sakura wasn't so sure about the whole idea of them going to SS HQ, she thought it would only make Sasuke miserable or worse, colder, if he were to see his brother again. She only sighed and zipped up her top, put on her shorts and skirt, attached kunai and shuriken pouches and strapped on one katana that had the Uchiha emblem attached at the end on her back. She still wondered why Sasuke gave her one of his weapons even if he had two. To her, she still had no right to use it but since he insisted, she might as well.

From the corner of her eyes, she watched as Sasuke finished getting dress after putting on his black trench coat. He had an emotionless face on and it sort of gave her the creeps despite both of them being killers. Lastly, he loaded his guns and secured them onto his holster, took his other katana and strapped it around his waist and looked down on his table, eyeing a silver tag that was attached to a silver chain. It was what identified him as an SS member, like soldiers in a battle had dogtags, two or more classifies you as a higher ranker and such. As for the SS, it was somewhat similar but quantity didn't matter. It was how new it still looked that told others how good you are at killing and making sure it doesn't get scratched. In short, it was the quality that mattered.

"Sasuke,"

He blinked and turned his head to her.

"Will you be okay?"

It was an important question to her and she needed a sure answer from him. To be honest, he didn't know if he will be fine, he just decided things too hastily and now, he's beginning to wonder if going to HQ to see his supposedly dead brother was a good idea. Sighing, he took the necklace and put it on around his neck, turning around to face her and giving a nod.

"Yeah, I'll be alright."

She doubted his answer but she knew it wasn't wise to argue, so she only dismissed the topic and waited for him to finish. _"I still have a bad feeling about this..." _she thought, following him outside his room to head for SS HQ. _"I just hope he can at least keep things at peace." _

"Think fast."

"Huh?"

A black tinted helmet was thrown at her and she caught it just in time. Blinking, she raised a brow and saw Sasuke put the same headgear on and mount his black and blue bike. She put hers on and got behind him, wrapping her arms around the boy as he inserted the key and started the ignition. "Ever ridden one of these before?" he asked as they got out of the Uchiha compound. "Um… no…" she had a vague feeling that he smirked at her and she so wanted to whack him on the head but that could cause them a fatal accident so she suppressed the urge to do so. "I guess you get to do a lot of first times with me."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

He smirked behind the tinted helmet. "Well, I was your first kiss, you were the first one to ever use the Uchiha blade even if you're not a family member, it was also your first time to dance in a party for rich people with me, it was your first time to wear a fancy gown and you were with me, it was your first time to sleep with a guy who happens to be me, I'm also the first guy you ever had in bed and didn't kill, it's-"

"Okay, knock it off, I get it!" she cried out, blushing furiously. "You didn't have to remind me everything…" she muttered.

"Why not? I'm sure you enjoyed what we did last night-"

"Shut up..!" she said, using ever ounce of self-control she has left. "Okay, I admit I enjoyed it but stop talking about it in public!"

"Like anyone can hear us."

"Just… drop it!"

Sasuke laughed a bit and didn't bother to annoy her again. "Whatever you say…"

* * *

They finally arrived at HQ and both went inside the building, stopping by Kakashi's office door and neither made a move to knock or just enter. Sasuke stood still and eyed the door, his hands clenched into balls of fists and he was slightly shaking. Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't so sure of the whole idea so she just waited for him to knock or say anything. "Can you… knock..?" he asked and she gave a nod, raising her fist and giving three knocks. Kakashi's voice called out, telling them to enter so Sakura turned the knob of the door and opened it. 

Right before them was Naruto and Hinata, seated on one couch, heads bowed down and not meeting their eyes. Kurenai only glanced at them then back at the floor while Kakashi just waited for them to enter. The other one, who was standing before SS's leader turned around to face the two and Sakura knew who it was just by looking into his eyes.

"Sasuke," came his voice. "You finally arrived."

He didn't say anything when he saw him, his older brother, the on he idolized, the one who didn't return the night he had accidentally killed his parents, the brother he had missed, the man who was considered dead, the Uchiha who he no longer knew.

"And you are?" Itachi directed the question to his little brother's companion and Sakura snapped from her train of thoughts and spoke out loud. "Haruno Sakura." The older Uchiha nodded and turned back to Sasuke who kept a stoic face. "I think you should know why I didn't come back soon," he began. "You see bro, I-"

"I don't want to hear it." Came his reply. "And don't call me brother, I don't know you anymore." So he turned his back to them and left without saying anything else. Sakura reached out to stop him but Kakashi stopped her from doing so. The silver-haired man got up from his seat and went out the door, telling everyone that he'll go and talk to him for he already knew Itachi's story.

"Sakura, come in and have a seat, you should know what's going on as well." Kurenai said and the pink-haired assassin gave one last look at Sasuke and Kakashi before entering and closing the door behind her to hear what Itachi has to say. _"I knew it, Sasuke would definitely walk out…" _she thought and sat down beside Hinata. "Alright Itachi-san, please start."

* * *

He opened his eyes and closed them again when the sun's rays stung his onyx orbs. Raising a hand to block the light, he finally managed to get a good look of his surroundings without the evil sun interrupting his vision. _"Why am I here again?" _he asked himself, looking around, feeling grass underneath him, hearing a few kids playing. Sitting up, he realized he wandered off to a nearby park and lay down on the green patches, trying to calm his anger. Seeing his brother made him angry at the same time, give a relieved feeling, knowing he was alive. 

"You know, that was really a bit rude of you."

Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi there, standing beside him and reading his porn book. The young Uchiha only looked back straight, not really minding the presence of the other. He sort of expected him to follow, he heard Sakura call him but he just continued to walk away, he even heard Kakashi saying he'll be the one to talk to him.

"What's up?"

"I'm not ready to see him, after all these years…"

"I see," was the older man's reply. "May I?"

A nod was enough to make him sit down beside the young assassin. Kakashi closed his book and leaned back a bit, hands supporting his whole body. "You know, when I was still a kid, I always wanted to have an older brother, unfortunately, my mom gave birth to me first, and a few months later, died from an accident. My dad was killed in a mission from SS when I was still seven, so that left me living alone for years, why else do you think I knew how to raise you when you were still a child?"

"And your point is?"

Kakashi laughed, this was Sasuke, always straight to the point. "What I'm trying to say is, I didn't raise you to be a total heartless killer, and I'm glad that you found happiness in Sakura, that you even became friends with Naruto, that you learned to love again, maybe Itachi's disappearance has a really good explanation, maybe he couldn't come back soon even if he wanted to, I'm just giving a sort of, fatherly advice, I may not exactly be your real dad, but I'm close to being one, give Itachi a second chance, everyone deserves it, even you do."

"I'm not sure if I can…" he said, looking down. "I'm afraid of loosing another family member." He sighed. "I almost lost Sakura in the mission, that's why I'd much prefer doing a solo mission, but then, having a partner also gives you the strength to fight like you never had." He told Kakashi. "But still, I'm… not over the phobia of loosing someone important…"

"I know that," he said. "That's the whole reason why you became an assassin."

"And I don't know if he's innocent or responsible for the whole incident…"

"Sasuke," he turned to face the Uchiha. "Your brother is more than ready to explain and ask for a second chance, listen to what he has to say, there may be a clue as to who _really _is the one responsible." He stood up and stretched his arms. "I'm going to the mini mart to get some refreshments, want anything?"

"No," he smirked. "I think I'm still satisfied with last night."

"Whoa Sasuke, you're younger than me and you already have experience." He chuckled and waved. "Tell me the details when you have the time then, ja!"

Watching his tutor walk away somehow made him smile slightly. It usually meant he was going to leave him alone to think or just because he gave up from talking him into doing something he didn't want to do. However, Sasuke was more than willing to do it, except, he was just a bit scared of what Itachi has to say. Sighing, he got up and pocketed his hands, turned to the direction of SS HQ and began walking there. Perhaps Itachi did have a good explanation, and as his only brother and the only living family he has, he might as well.

* * *

"Alright bro, let's hear it." He said, taking a seat beside Sakura as Itachi sat down across him, thinking of where he should start. "I just need to know three things, one, why didn't you come back until now; two, where have you been and three, why did mom and dad try to kill me?" 

Itachi sighed and looked at him. "All of your questions are somewhat connected. I didn't come back because I was given a threat that if I did, they'll kill you. I was taken captive by another assassin who wants to overthrow SS. His name is Orochimaru and he's after you as far as I can remember." Sasuke raised a brow at him. "You're the top assassin here in SS. I retired long ago, so you took my place. Orochimaru knew about my job here that he told mom and dad about it and they were afraid that you might become one so they tried to kill you, don't get them wrong but the reason why is for them to also prevent Orochimaru from taking you away and training you to become a killer. They wanted to take you to another country to escape but the snake has lots of connections so they had no other choice."

"…they should've just killed me in my sleep."

"No, mom and dad were expert assassins too and didn't want us to be like them. But Oro managed to find out and told them about my secret of joining SS. He also threatened to kill you if they didn't let you become an assassin. They weren't aware that it was all a trick, a plot to make you have a cold heart and become a killer. So far, Orochimaru succeeded in his first plan. I was able to escape and get back here, but I have a feeling that he'll be able to track me down. He was planning to use me to lure you to him, so I had to escape."

"So, all this time… that bastard took you as his prisoner, as bait to lure me to him…" Sasuke clenched his fists at this. He hated guys who used other people to get what they want. He uses his looks to get information, so he can also be called a user but at least he doesn't use another human to get what he wants, right?

"Yes," Itachi sighed. "I can't really say if I'm safe now or not, he could be looking for me right now." He looked at Sasuke. "Be careful, that's all I have to say, I'm sure that he has something up his sleeves." Sasuke nodded and Kakashi came back, carrying a bag full of drinks and chips. "Naruto, how's your mission going?" he asked, sitting down on his seat and tossing a few of the canned drinks to each individual inside, along with the snacks.

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Still nothing, we've been trying hard to get information about it but… nothing." Kakashi nodded and turned to Sasuke. "I have another mission for you Sasuke, are you up for it?" Sasuke nodded and Kakashi returned the gesture. "It seems that Izegawa's death led to two of his friends suspecting you and/or Sakura." He eyed the woman at this. "Do you mind doing another joint mission with my Shadow Assassin?"

Sakura shook her head. "Same as before, the two guys who Izegawa was with in the club you went on your first night have a son and a daughter. These two hang out in a club and are merely close friends. Using your best weapons, get some information from them and see if they have connections with Orochimaru. Anything that has something to do with drugs leads us closer to the snake. I expect this mission to be executed perfectly, kill if you must, am I clear?"

"Hai." They replied.

"In the meantime, Itachi, you'll be safe here in HQ, I'll have Hyuuga and Nara stay here." Kurenai turned to Kakashi. "I also have Ten-Ten and Ino available if you want." She said and Kakashi thought for a while before nodding. "Alright, as for you Naruto and Hinata," the said two looked up at him. "You will be assisting Sasuke and Sakura, since Orochimaru is involved, we'll need the top assassins in getting a closer look into this snake, I'll have Shino and Kiba on stand-by if ever you need back-up." All four nodded at this. "Mission will commence tonight, get ready for it."

* * *

"I'm not sure if I can do this Sakura…" Hinata said meekly as she eyed the piles of clothes Sakura placed on the bed of the guest room in the Uchiha estate. She blushed when Sakura held up a tube top in front of the Hyuuga and grinned. "Sakura, no…" but her friend only smirked evilly. "Come on Hinata, this is a mission, plus, you'll get to catch Naruto's eye." Hinata turned beet red. "H-How did you..?" Sakura waved her hand. "I have my sources." And she looked at the set of clothes on her bed. "Now let's see, I think this purple tube top will go well with this white jacket, oh, and this denim mini skirt will complete the look!" Sakura handed the clothes to Hinata and ushered her in the bathroom. She looked for some footwear that would go well with the outfit. "Kurenai-san always said that our black combat boots go well with almost anything." She snapped her fingers and looked for some clothes she could wear. 

Sighing, she couldn't decide so she knocked on the bathroom door and told Hinata she'll be back. She ran out the door and knocked onto Sasuke's room who opened it and raised a brow at her. She looked at him to see that he was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and blue denim pants and white socks and he was staring at the 3 sets of clothes she had on her arms. His brain clicked and he shook his head but she kept pleading and begging until he gave in and allowed her to enter his room.

"Where did Naruto go?"

"Out to get some ramen." He answered and sweat dropped when Sakura giggled, taking her pick on which of the three she should try on first. "What is it with girls fussing over what they should wear…" he muttered and took a seat on his computer chair and resumed his search about anything that was closely related to their real target, Orochimaru. Sakura locked his room door and began to change. "Well, you see, we girls have it hard because unlike animals, we have to be the ones who are attractive to ever catch a guy's eye." She giggled inwardly when she saw him tighten his grip on the poor mouse. _"Someone's jealous." _She thought.

"And plus the fact that I have to use my body to get some guy to talk." Sasuke's mouth twitched and his left eyebrow followed suit. "I mean, it's not hard when you dance for them but the clothes add to the touch, especially if they are revealing outfits." Sakura continued to talk while he was gritting his teeth, planning to rip the head of any guy who ever dares to touch, grope or whatever, his, that's right, _his _Sakura.

She looked down at what she was wearing and turned to Sasuke. "Besides, what all guys are after nowadays are the package of the girl and not the-" he stood up abruptly and faced her. She was a bit startled when he gazed at her intently. She laughed nervously. "See what I mean?" but he lowered his head lightly so his bangs can shadow his eyes as a knowing smirk tugged at his lips. Sakura sort of took a step back when he did the opposite.

"You know, you're right, especially if you plan on wearing _that _attire." He said, still not showing his onyx eyes. Sakura gulped. What was wrong with wearing a red spaghetti-strapped top and a black mini skirt that hugged her hips and thighs tightly? He walked closer to her until he had her backed up on the wall, looking up at him with wide eyes as he trapped her there, placing his hands at the side of her head and still smirking. "Sasuke… what are you planning..?"

"It's your fault why you turned me on." And he kissed her aggressively, nibbling on her lower lip and demanding that she open her mouth or he'll force her. She found this side of him intriguing so she did what he wanted him to do and gave him entrance to her mouth, sucking her tongue as she did the same when he allowed her to. Getting heated up, he tore away from her mouth and hungrily kissed her neck, licked it and sucked on it, making her moan and grip onto his shirt tight. "You're mine, you hear me?" he said and she uttered a weak yes and he smirked for being dominant once more. "Whoever takes you away will die in my hands." And he pulled her away from the wall and forced himself on top of her when she fell onto his bed for the second time perhaps.

His hands clasped onto her wrists, not granting her wish to take control, yet. He wanted to be in command for the time being and if he doesn't lose it, he'll let her switch places with him. In the meantime, the Uchiha must prevail over the Haruno, she did win their bet so he might as well win this one. She tilted her head to the side and he marked her where he had missed. His left hand held onto both of her wrists above her head while his right began to slowly undress her, making sure that he won't tear her clothes. He unzipped her skirt, expertly removing it and slipped one strap of the red top off and did the same to the other while still having a lip lock with his girl. Sakura moved her head as he parted away, looking at her questioningly.

Sasuke got off of her when she sat up and eyed him. "You know," she said and he raised a brow. "I have no idea how I'll be able to cover these marks for the club tonight, and how will you even take my shirt off when you have my hands above my head?" she giggled when he blushed, finally realizing how stupid he was. "Okay… so I made a mistake…" he murmured and smirked when he pinned her down again. "But that doesn't mean I can't learn from it." And he nibbled at her ear, blowing onto it as she giggled. "You owe me," he said, getting up and fixing himself as she did the same. "I'll wait for you here after the mission." He said, walking towards his room door.

"H-hey, wait a minute!" She yelled and he stopped and turned to her. "You still haven't helped me decide on what to wear!" Again, he gave a smug smirk and she glared at him. "I like what you're already wearing." And he stepped outside, closing the door behind him and pocketing his hands, going down the stairs with a smirk still on his face.

Sakura blinked at the blue door and looked down. She blushed furiously and yelled: "Uchiha Sasuke! I'm so going to kill you!" What she was wearing was… well… what was left of what she had on was her red top, but the straps were off and only in her underwear. Wei, who was in the kitchen, fixing a cup of coffee looked questioningly at his young master who sat there on a chair, snickering. Wei sighed, _"The Youths today…" _and he smiled.

Naruto soon came in, hearing what Sakura yelled and he turned to Sasuke with a raised brow and put down the cup of instant noodles. "Did I miss anything?" and his best friend only continued laughing like an idiot, shaking his head and all Naruto did was sweat drop at his bizarre behavior. _"I never thought that he can laugh like a fool…" _

_**To be continued…

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**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 6: User_

"Will you stop it with your sympathy? I don't fucking need it!" he yelled all of a sudden, not knowing that he had activated his sharingan and was glaring at the least person he expected to glare, Sakura. She was taken aback by his sudden outburst that she looked down and narrowed her eyes, gripping tightly onto the sheets of his bed. She only came here to treat his wounds and to see how he was doing. "I never thought you'd be like that," she said and looked up at him, matching his glare. "And here I thought I would be the one to make you feel better, thinking that you actually need me, but I guess I was wrong." And she stood up, walked pass him, leaving him in his room and staring at where she once was. "Sakura," she stopped but didn't turn to him and when he didn't say anything, she just continued to walk away, walk away from him and he hated it, more over, he hated himself for letting another person walk out on him.

* * *

_A/N: Lucky for those who hate cliffhangers, I have no idea on how to end this. Besides, I'm saving most for future chapters. Again, I don't like this chapter much but I did enjoy typing it. I don't know when I'll update again but I will soon when I get chapter 6 done. Next chapter will have NaruHina, I promise! Crap, I was reading Yakuza 'coz I missed it, then I re-read the reviews and said: "What the heck, I'll post chapter 5 of Cold to not keep them waiting." So here it is! I was supposed to post it on Saturday or Sunday but... yeah... you reviewers make me happy so, might as well make you guys happy!  
_


	6. User

_A/N: Too much of a crappy explanation… I wasn't so happy about the past few chapters, I feel really annoyed at myself for not typing as good as before. Hopefully this will make up for it, here's chapter 6.

* * *

_

**Cold**

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, raising a brow. Sakura only huffed and crossed her arms, avoiding his look. He smirked and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm being honest with you, I really do love what you're wearing." And a pillow met his face. Sakura got up from his bed and put on her skirt and fixed the straps of her top. "I'm going back to the guest room…" she muttered, walking pass him. He only eyed her and smirked yet again.

"Quit smirking will 'ya? It's getting on my nerves!"

"Whatever…" and he entered his room, closing the door behind him.

"Feh, jerk…" muttered Sakura and smiled a bit. "A cute jerk…"

* * *

_**Chapter 6: User**_

The sound of pouring tea is all that can be heard in the living room of the Uchiha estate. Naruto was playing the games in his cell phone while Sasuke was just beside the blonde, eyes closed as if in deep thinking. Wei stopped pouring and returned to the kitchen, leaving the two boys to wait some more.

"Damn, why do girls take a long time to get ready?" Sasuke muttered, getting up and pocketed his hands inside his blue denim pants. He had a white shirt on and over it was a black button-up shirt left open. He glanced at Naruto who was wearing an orange shirt and black cargo pants. A chain was attached to the side of his pants for added look. Both had rubber shoes on and one was getting very impatient in waiting for the two girls. "Oi, dobe, aren't you a bit annoyed about it?"

"No." he said, not taking his eyes off of the LCD screen. "Ah! Evil dude! Take this, and that!"

"Why am I always stuck with…" he trailed off when his eyes turned to the top of the stairs where Sakura was descending from, followed by a blushing Hinata. His supposed partner smiled at his awed face. "…you…" he continued. Sakura giggled and poked him on the forehead. "From Itachi." She whispered. "Come on Hinata, stop being so shy about it, you have to have guts!"

Hinata wasn't really comfortable with what she was wearing, which Sakura picked out for her this afternoon, and she wasn't really ready to go into a club wearing only a tube top, even if she had a jacket over it, and a really short skirt. As for Sakura, she decided to change her red top and wore a light blue one and a white skirt that _still_ showed her curves. Their black combat boots completed their whole attire.

Sasuke snapped from his reverie after a few moments and called Naruto, saying that they were about to leave. The blonde kept his phone and grinned at the three. His eyes landed on Hinata and lingered on her for a moment before he smiled. "I like your clothes Hinata, it suits you!" he said, nodding. The Hyuuga blushed all the more and gave a meek thank you to her partner. "But these are Sakura's clothes, so the credits go to her."

"Nah, without your looks, it wouldn't be good!" Sakura grinned. "Anyway," Sasuke coughed. "Come on, we're _late_." He said, emphasizing the last word and looking at Sakura who smiled sheepishly. _"Che, women, who can understand them?" _he thought and the four of them left for the club.

* * *

All four sat down by the bar, ordering themselves a couple of drinks, whether alcoholic or not. They then began discussing some plans on how to get some info, the usual "flirt" was what Naruto said and the three agreed, seeing as there is really no other option. 

"Man, I like the beat of the music!" Naruto said out loud and grinned at Hinata. "Let's dance Hinata!" he said and didn't wait for the girl to answer as he dragged her to the dance floor and began to sway with the music, not really caring whether he was bumping a few others.

"He sure is hyper." Sakura giggled and turned to Sasuke who sighed. "He gets one shot of alcohol and he already gets high…" he shook his head at this and took another sip from his beverage, savoring the bitter-sweet taste of the beer. He wondered though, no matter how many glasses he takes, he never gets drunk easily. After another gulp, he ordered another one and Sakura just gaped at him.

"You know, too much of that is not good."

"Don't care."

"Well, I do." She said, taking the glass away from his lips and made him face her, a sly smile on her cherry and glossy lips. "Besides, you're not here to get yourself drunk." She whispered and leaned closer. He smirked and discreetly placed a hand behind her head and with one swift movement, pulled the girl, making her lips crush onto his in an aggressive kiss.

A few of the people who saw this watched in interest, betting on who will dominate or who will be the first to give in. Sasuke, feeling the girl was getting into it, leaned backwards a bit until he was lying on his back in an uncomfortable position over the vacant stools. Whistles and cheers reached their ears but neither of them seemed to care and continued with their make-out session in public.

"Teme! Go get a room!" Naruto yelled, laughing as he continued to dance with Hinata who was staring at her two friends with wide eyes. _"Oh my, is Sakura really doing that? And where is Sasuke's hand going? Ah! Oh dear! It's under her skirt and is her hand..? Oh no… it is! Ah! Sakura's hand is slipping under his shirt! I think… I think I'm going to-" _

"Ne, Hinata, why are you gaping at them?"

She blinked and turned to Naruto who had a sly grin on his face. "W-what are you… t-talking about?" she asked pretending that she didn't stare at the couple. His grin only grew wider and his arms protectively wrapped around Hinata's waist, securing the girl. "I don't know about you but, I'm out of breath, care to share?" and before she could answer, his lips pressed against hers, gently and passionately.

Her pupil-less eyes widened and her hands, shyly and shakily wrapped around Naruto's neck, her eyes slowly closing until they too, had their own lip-lock. He parted a bit and grinned. "Thanks for the CPR Hinata!" he joked and she giggled. She was glad that he had kissed her, although slightly disappointed it was short, she was still happy he did. "Um… your welcome, Naruto, and if you… like… you can…" she blushed and lowered her head. "…have some more."

"Wow, really?" she nodded. "In that case, I do love the taste of your lips." He smiled and kissed her again, this time, longer and deeper; he licked her lips, getting a taste of her watermelon flavored lip balm, liking its sweetness, slowly getting addicted to it. Hinata shivered when his tongue touched her lips and couldn't help but open her mouth shyly, his tongue entering to greet hers.

* * *

"Um…" 

The two didn't break apart.

"Would you like me to arrange a hotel room?"

They parted abruptly and looked at where the voice came from, the bar tender's. The two undercover assassins blushed furiously and sat up straight, straightening the wrinkles of their clothes and fixing their messy hair. They heard a few groans and "oh man!" from the people around them as some snickered, opening their palms and asking for their share of money. Blinking, Sasuke turned to look at them and realized that most of the attention was on him and Sakura.

"S-sorry…" he heard her say. "I… got carried away."

Sasuke smirked when she reached for the glass of beer and took a swig of it. "I'd say you really wanted to do it." He rested his arms on the table and turned his head to his girl who was blushing and avoiding his gaze. "By the way, I suddenly had this craving for strawberries," Sakura turned to him with wide eyes, watching how his onyx orbs landed on her lips. "You taste sweet."

"Cut it out!" she hissed.

"Alright, but you'll have to make up for it later." He said and finished his drink, got onto his feet and pulled her up and towards the dance floor. "You haven't danced with me in a club yet." They stopped in the middle and faced each other. This time, it was Sakura's turn to smirk. "Alright Sasuke, you've been in-command over me in your room and also when we were at Izegawa's, this time, it's my turn." And as the next music played a really fast number, Sakura started to dance wildly, shaking and moving to the beat and rhythm, not minding some eyes, all that mattered to her was that her partner was looking at her with intense interest and with a very suggesting smirk. He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear. "I challenge you to dance like that later."

"No problem, Uchiha."

* * *

A bunch of teens and young adults continued to dance, drink, make-out, after being inspired by the four assassins, and horse around the bar, having fun till they can no longer keep their eyes open as some went home; others sat down and chatted with friends and a few still dancing. Two were somewhere in a corner, talking and eyeing a certain pair which caught their eyes, starting from the point wherein they both entered until their daring make-out session above the stools. These two were the targets of the four assassins who were still busy having fun with each other. 

"That's them right?" the male said, looking at the raven-haired killer who smirked and continued to watch his girl, as they assumed. His brown eyes sparkled with interest when they landed on the pink-haired girl who entertained her partner by dancing and teasing him. "Uchiha and Haruno, the people who killed my dad's friend."

"Yeah, them." The female said, smirking evilly at the couple. "I've got Uchiha, you can pretty much handle Haruno anyway." She said, getting up and giving a signal to the bar tender who nodded. "Once she takes a sip, drag her to the dance floor and I'll deal with Uchiha."

"Just be careful where that naughty mind of yours wanders, as well as those hands." He teased. "I've known you since fifth grade Mizumi, remember that." Mizumi waved a dismissive hand at her friend and walked over to Sasuke, taking a seat beside him as he took no interest about it and continued to talk with Sakura who was still dancing in front of him. Coughing to get his attention, she straightened herself up, puffing out her breast and giving a flirtatious smile at the man.

Sakura stopped and eyed Mizumi with annoyed eyes as Sasuke looked at the new arrival with bored ones. "Is there anything you want from us?" Sakura asked, clearly irritated that another girl was bold enough to get her Sasuke's attention. _"Don't these freaks ever learn?" _Apparently, four glasses of beer was enough to get Sakura half-drunk and being in this state, she had a very bad temper. Mizumi ignored her and smiled at Sasuke, batting her eyelashes like a professional flirt, as Sasuke would like to call it.

"My girlfriend just asked you a question, so if you won't bother to answer it or if you're just here to ask me for a dance or just to simply talk, then my answer is no." inside, Sakura gave a hearty hell yeah and cheered her boyfriend. Mizumi smirked and inched closer to him, much to Sakura's annoyance and then whispered something in his ear.

Sasuke's eyes widened a bit and gave Sakura a knowing look which she nodded to. At this, Mizumi motioned her male friend discreetly to come over so he did, casually approaching Sakura and gave a gentle smile then asked her for a dance. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at Sasuke who gave a single nod and she accepted the male's hand.

"Alright, you have my attention, spill." He said.

"Yes, we know very much that you, her, as well as the blonde and short-haired girl over there," she pointed to Naruto and Hinata who were, surprisingly, still in their lip lock with the blonde parting and kissing the Hyuuga's neck occasionally. "…are here because of a mission, and it looks to me like you have completely forgotten because of having too much fun." She thanked the bar tender who handed her a glass of whisky. "Tell me, Uchiha Sasuke, has your cold heart finally melted? Have you gotten over the fear of losing someone precious to you? Someone such as your little Sakura over there who is dancing with my friend," she snickered when he eyed the mentioned two. "By the way, Orochimaru-sama is here somewhere, watching you with intense interest, especially on Sakura," she finished her drink at this. "To tell you the truth, some actually think that he is gay, but in reality, he's very much a pure male, and he is _very _interested in your cherry blossom."

Sasuke stood up abruptly and glared at Mizumi, clenching his fists tightly as if ready to punch anyone who dared to take Sakura. "Of course, I can do something about it, if…"

"If what?" he asked.

"If you become mine."

He lowered his head at this and smirked. "Keep dreaming bitch." And he raised his head, his sharingan activated as the wheels began to spin, making Mizumi in a state of trance before falling on the floor and loosing consciousness. "Tell your snake-boss that he'll never get what he wants, not as long as I'm around." And he stomped his way towards Sakura and pushed the guy she was dancing with. "Hey buddy, your bitch friend just passed out."

"What?" and he ran over to where Mizumi was, trying to shake the girl awake.

"We have to get out of here; our cover is out, where are Naruto and Hinata?" Sasuke asked, scanning the area for any sign of the two. Sakura clasped is hand and pulled him towards the two, breaking them apart from their world. "Guys, we have to go, now!" and the four quickly went outside, not knowing that a group of men followed.

"Why, what's up?" Naruto asked as they ran outside the club and headed to the parking lot. No one but them were there and they can talk freely because of that. "Orochimaru is inside, and he knows who we are and why we were there." Sasuke answered, fishing out his car keys from his pocket. He stopped when all four sensed a presence of many men.

"Leaving so soon? Why, we haven't even talked formally yet!"

The voice was eerie and it sent chills down their spines. Their body seemed to freeze and couldn't move nor could they look at where the sound came from.

"Let's see, we have Shadow Serpent members, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, then we also have Blood Lust members, Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata, what a nice combination. Two rival associations working together, falling in love, but then," he turned to Sasuke. "Aren't you afraid that you might lose someone close to your heart again?"

With his emotions getting the best of him, Sasuke just turned abruptly to the man and charged. "Sasuke, don't!" Naruto yelled and ran after him, only to get hit by Sasuke's body that was thrown back at him by one of the men. The two female assassins rushed to their aid. "I can't believe that you, being a top assassin could let your emotions get the best of you!" he exclaimed, shaking his head and giving a sinister grin. "Kakashi taught you better than that Sasuke."

"Shut up you snake!" he yelled, spitting out blood. "You tricked my parents into killing me, making them think that it was the only way for me to not become a killer, when you know very well that they don't have the heart to do so! You knew from the beginning that my survival instincts will kick in and I'll be the one to kill them!"

"Of course, the Uchiha family, after all, from the past, has unique instincts and sixth senses. You aren't an Uchiha for nothing Sasuke, your ancestors were famous ninjas and killers, and it must keep going like that." Orochimaru gave a gesture to his men and all surrounded the four in a circle. "I also have my own organization, but I will not force you to join, instead, I will give you three challenges. If you pass all three, I won't bother you or your brother, and friends any more, but if you lose once, you have to join my guild."

Sasuke smirked and wiped the blood that trickled down his left lip away. "I'm listening." He said. "And you have to swear on your own blood that you won't be a clingy bastard to me, Itachi, the whole org, that including Blood Lust and anyone who is close to me."

Orochimaru snickered, took out a dagger and slashed it on his arm. "I promise. Now, my first challenge," he said. "These fifteen men are my best ones as of the moment, since the others are on a mission, defeat them with your bare hands and you win the challenge, also, your three comrades can help once, only once, do you accept?"

"Deal." And the men all came at him as he evaded and dodged every single punch. He had to admit, these guys were good, but he can handle them, even if he was on his own. Problem is he's forgetting that Orochimaru plays dirty, and by dirty, his opponents have with them some guns and other deadly weapons. Just now, a knife's blade got a taste of his blood on his left arm. "Shit." He cursed, holding onto his cut and glaring at the guy who gave him the wound.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at this. "That's not fair!" Orochimaru only snickered some more. "I never did say that my men won't use weapons, I just merely said that Sasuke can only use his bare hands and can receive help from any of you once." The blonde assassin got pissed at this. His blue eyes searched for anything and saw a trash can's lid. He picked it up and threw it like a Frisbee towards three men who had guns, managing to knock out those who had a deadlier weapon. He then backed away and waited for the fight to finish.

"Thanks Naruto," Sasuke said and gave a hard kick at one man's groin. He fell to his knees, biting his bottom lip so as not to scream. During his weakness, Sasuke cracked his knuckles and punched the guy on the face, knocking him out. He was nearly stabbed behind if Hinata hadn't hit the back of the guy's neck. "Thanks Hinata." And the girl gave a nod and stood beside Naruto. Now, there were ten guys left and only Sakura has one chance to help.

The two stood back-to-back, talking in whispers. "Five for the two of us?" she asked, looking at the five men before her. "You've only got one shot at this Sakura, can you do it?" he asked back. Sakura thought for a while before straightening herself up from her fighting stance, puzzling the ten men, as well as the three and Orochimaru. "Sasuke, don't hate or get mad at me for this, it's the only way." She said above a whisper.

"What are you…?"

"Stand back," she told him and he unwillingly did so. She took a deep breathe in and gave a cute and flirty smile at the men who blushed and eyed her as she acted like an innocent girl. Sakura pretended to fix her strap when in reality, she was sliding it down. The men's noses began to bleed and they tried to look away but something about the girl made them stayed glued onto her body. She took something out of her pocket and _accidentally _dropped it on the floor. "Ooopps!" she said and bent down, her skirt rising a bit to show off what's beneath it.

Hinata and Sasuke whacked Naruto's head when his nose began to bleed. "Hinata, keep his eyes away from Sakura." The Uchiha muttered and had his left eye twitching, his fists clenching tighter and tighter. The Hyuuga just gave a nod as Sasuke walked over to Sakura, a very jealous look on his eyes. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to stand up straight, eyes showing a look of possessiveness. "S-Sasu-" she got cut off when he just crushed his lips onto hers then parted and looked at her. "Don't you ever do that in front of me again, you're turning me on." then glared at the men who were still in a daze. "All of you are going to die!" and in a blink of an eye, he immediately punched, kicked, and used other forms of physical combat to defeat the ten.

"And the winner for round one is Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, acting like a commentator as he punched a fist in the air. Sasuke turned to Orochimaru, a smirk and a deadly look was what he gave the older man. "I'll be waiting for your next challenges, bastard."

Orochimaru snickered. "Just as I thought," he said and looked at Sasuke in the eye. The 23-year old's smirk turned to a scowl and he narrowed his eyes at Oro. "You're like the other assassins, only you're pretty much worse, why so? You hate users like me, but you are a user yourself, there's no mistaking it Sasuke, you _are _like me, a user."

"Shut up!"

"In denial, it usually means you're guilty."

"I said shut the fuck up!" Sasuke yelled, eyes turning red and fists shaking wildly. The three were taken aback by his sudden outburst and couldn't move or say anything to him, afraid that it might trigger his anger all the more.

"Remember this Sasuke, you know that I'm right, you're a user like me, and you killed your parents with your own bare hands, it was you who killed them, not me, you hate me because I use people, which means you hate yourself as well, you don't have a purpose to live a free life, you are merely controlled by someone, you take orders, you obey and follow them, you are trained to kill, you use people to kill, we are very much alike, and we will probably make a good team. But as I've said, I will not force you, I'll give you a choice, stick to the deal, or you come to me on your own. You will eventually seek me, you will come to me willingly, and I don't even need to stress myself to do so." He slowly backed away, amused at how the assassin before him reacted, eyes widened in either disbelief or realization. "You're like me, don't deny it, you're a user, and you killed your parents." And soon, he disappeared into the shadows, leaving only an eerie laugh echoing in their ears.

"S-Sasuke..?"

"Let's go." He said too suddenly, opening the car door and getting in it. The three followed and they soon headed to Hinata's place, then Naruto's, and lastly, his estate. Wei greeted them a cheery and warm "welcome back" which Sakura returned with a smile and thank you but Sasuke just gave a nod and left, going up to his room. "Is something wrong with the young master?" Wei asked, turning to Sakura who watched the said Uchiha walk to his room.

"Nothing, he's just tired." She said and forced a smile. "I'm bushed as well, see you in the morning Wei-san!" and she rushed to the top of the stairs, slowing down when she neared Sasuke's room. She remembered that he had a cut so she went to her room and got out a medic kit from her bag and rushed back to his room, gave three light knocks and entered when she heard a muffled "it's open" from him.

Sakura smiled slightly, seeing him lying on the bed, a pillow over his head and his arms spread out wide. "In case you're forgetting," she sat down by the bedside. "You have a cut." And he slowly sat up, a scowl on his face and he was staring off into the distance. Sakura shrugged and got to work with his wounds. One on his arm, a few bruises on his face and that's about it. "Don't think too much about it Sasuke, he's only saying those things to get to you, it's called psychological strategy, okay, so I invented that term but you get it." She wrapped his cut with a bandage after rubbing some ointment. "I think it's what others would say, reverse psychology." She added, smiling a bit when he didn't even flinch from the stinging sensation the ointment usually gives. "Whoa, you sure can handle pain." She said and took out a cloth. "Now let's see those bruises." He didn't move. "Sasuke, stop thinking about it, I know how you feel, I mean, heck, you're not a user, you don't use other people to get what you want, you only use your looks and-" he got up and walked a bit further from her then gave a sigh.

"Sasuke, stop thinking about it, you're not a-"

"Will you stop it with your sympathy? I don't fucking need it!" he yelled all of a sudden, not knowing that he had activated his sharingan and was glaring at the least person he expected to glare, Sakura. She was taken aback by his sudden outburst that she looked down and narrowed her eyes, gripping tightly onto the sheets of his bed. She only came here to treat his wounds and to see how he was doing. "I never thought you'd be like that," she said and looked up at him, matching his glare. "And here I thought I would be the one to make you feel better, thinking that you actually need me, but I guess I was wrong." And she stood up, walked pass him, leaving him in his room and staring at where she once was. "Sakura," she stopped but didn't turn to him and when he didn't say anything, she just continued to walk away, walk away from him and he hated it, more over, he hated himself for letting another person walk out on him.

"Good night." She said and closed the door behind her. He heard her footsteps fading, which meant she was going further and further away. He clenched his fists and glared at the walls of his bedroom "Bullshit!" he yelled, punching the wall, making a slight crack to it. "Fucking cement…" he cursed, taking his hand back to his side, not minding how his knuckles were bruised and were slightly bleeding. "Damn that bastard." He said, recalling Orochimaru's words. He sighed heavily and plopped down on his bed, face down. "Damn this life…" he muttered and turned his head to the right, staring at the medic kit that Sakura left. _"Sakura…" _he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. _"…Forgive me…"

* * *

_

She stared outside his garden, watching how the grass sparkled thanks to its dew, looking at the flowers that decorated the green patches, adding color and life, staring at how the moon was illuminating the whole compound, giving light, chasing away darkness. Light… she thought she could be the light that can save Sasuke from the dark, like the flowers, she thought she could be the one to add color and life to Sasuke's dull world. She thought she could save him, pull him out from his deep misery, she was able to get out of it when she met him, when he said he loves her, when he saved her from getting captured by those agents.

A smile graced her lips upon remembering that night.

_She furrowed her eyebrows at him and opened her mouth. "Who are you?" _

"_Before I answer, you should state your name first."_

"State your name first…" she said. Sakura can still remember that her mind was saying that she liked his attitude. _"Yeah, he was definitely the type who attracted a lot of people." _

"_Play along." She heard someone say and when she looked up, her lips were locked with another. "What the-?" her mind screamed as she fought the urge to kiss back and pull the guy closer to her. Her green eyes looked up at his closed ones and she realized it was the guy who she met earlier, Uchiha Sasuke._

"He stole my first kiss and I stole his." She giggled at this, her anger slowly subsiding. Sakura felt the breeze blow against her face and she recalled seeing him the other morning, looking calm and serene, looking like he had a normal life, the way he showed his mellow side. _"Cute," _she thought and went back inside her room, closing the balcony windows and sitting down on the bed. _"Why can't I stay angry at him? Is this what they'd say as stupidity? Or true love?" _she laughed when she remembered Kurenai saying that love is stupid. _"Love is stupid, it is because, I am stupid to feel that feeling, it is stupid because even if you get hurt, you continue to love all over again." _She sighed and lay down on bed. "Yep, I'm stupid and in love."

* * *

_Ring. Ring._

"Hello?" answered a groggy and sleepy voice.

"N-Naruto, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Oh, Hinata," Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head as he sat up and switched the phone to his other ear. "Not really, I was just getting ready for bed," he answered and heard her sigh, probably in relief. "So, what's up?"

"It's about Sasuke, I'm afraid that he and Sakura might… suddenly have a spat."

"Spat? You're underestimating them Hinata, that won't be a spat!" he exclaimed and regretted it. "Um, you only said that to not make it sound less bad, right?"

"Y-yes…"

"S-sorry." He kicked himself mentally.

"It's okay." Came her meek voice. "N-Naruto, what should we do? What if they… say harsh words to each other?" she twiddled with her fingers at this and began to pace around her room, holding her wireless phone. "I know Sakura will stay level-headed but if he insults her or says something nasty, she'll only make it worse with that temper she has."

"Yeah, teme and Sakura are so different yet so alike huh?"

"Un."

"But don't worry about it, I'm sure they can handle it, knowing Sasuke, he'll just say something or suddenly snap but that's it, whenever he's confused, he's like that, you'll see, the next day, he'll be back to normal and if Sakura's lucky, he'll apologize."

"I see… I'm just worried, ever since Sakura met him, she's been really happy; she began to show her emotions again, real ones."

"Trust me Hinata, if they truly love each other, they can overcome this."

"O-okay, I trust you Naruto, and… thanks."

"No problem, and Hinata?"

"Yes?"

He smiled and lay back down on bed. "You're a really good friend to Sakura." From the other line, Hinata smiled at his compliment. "Thank you, so are you to Sasuke, even if… you do call each other names." She heard him chuckle and she stifled a giggle. "Well, thanks again Naruto, good night."

"Mm, good night and Hinata?"

"Hmm?"

"Love 'ya!"

She blushed. "I-I love you… too…" she whispered and he bid her sweet dreams before both hung up, their worries eased and lessened just from the short but memorable talk they shared, or had, that night.

* * *

"Teme, open the damn door!" 

He knitted his brows before opening his eyes, closing them again from the bright rays of the sun. _"What time is it?" _he asked himself, turning towards his bedside table and looking at the clock. It read 07:47 AM and he swore he heard Naruto's voice yelling earlier. _"Can't be, it's still too early for him…" _and he closed his eyes again but…

_Bang! Bang!_

"Teme! If you don't open the fucking door I will break it down!"

Sasuke's head slowly turned to the door, looking at it boredly as Naruto continued to bang on it, trying to wake him up and to get him to open the door. _"Damn idiot…" _he cursed and sat up. A medic kit caught his eyes and he remembered his outburst last night and was directed at Sakura.

"_Will you stop it with your sympathy? I don't fucking need it!" he yelled all of a sudden, not knowing that he had activated his sharingan and was glaring at the least person he expected to glare, Sakura. She was taken aback by his sudden outburst that she looked down and narrowed her eyes, gripping tightly onto the sheets of his bed. She only came here to treat his wounds and to see how he was doing. "I never thought you'd be like that," she said and looked up at him, matching his glare. "And here I thought I would be the one to make you feel better, thinking that you actually need me, but I guess I was wrong." And she stood up, walked pass him, leaving him in his room and staring at where she once was. "Sakura," she stopped but didn't turn to him and when he didn't say anything, she just continued to walk away, walk away from him and he hated it, more over, he hated himself for letting another person walk out on him. _

"Shit…" he muttered and went towards the door, stepped aside and opened it to see Naruto fall over, face first. The blonde murmured a few words and got up, dusted himself and turned to Sasuke. "Took you long enough…" he said. Sasuke shrugged and walked back to his bed, eyeing the med kit. _"Damn, my hand hurts…" _he thought, glancing at his right hand which had dried blood and a few bruises.

"Teme, you look like you've been beaten to a bloody pulp." Commented Naruto who pointed at his friend's bruised face. "And Kaka isn't very happy about the results of our mission." He said, tapping a finger on his chin. "And you didn't even bother to change your clothes last night? You must've been really tired!"

"Idiot." Sasuke mumbled and rummaged through his closet. "What are you doing here so early anyway? It's not like you."

"Meeting, Kakashi wants us now."

"Che, go wait downstairs."

"Whatever." And Naruto left him.

"_As if I don't have other problems; She became my girlfriend and one day later, we have a spat, what the hell do the heavens want with my life?" _he sighed and went inside the bathroom to take a quick shower. _"How should I apologize?"

* * *

_

"That was really mean of him." Hinata said after Sakura told her about last night. "Are you okay Sakura, I mean, that was really harsh." Sakura gave a smile and a nod, getting into her assassin attire after drying her hair. "Of course I'm fine, you think what he said affected me that much? No way!" she laughed, a forced one at that and Hinata knew it wasn't a real laugh.

"You don't have to hide what you're feeling."

Sakura stopped and then continued to secure her kunai holster. "I just don't get it, why would he suddenly get mad at me? I mean, it's my fault for being so sympathetic, but it's only because I care for him, I don't really understand…" She sighed and walked over to the door. "Come on, we still have to meet up with Kurenai-san and Kakashi-san."

"S-Sakura-" but she was ignored as Sakura continued to make her way down the stairs. She saw Naruto wearing his SS uniform and turned her head slightly to see Sasuke come down wearing his SS uniform as well, followed by Hinata. Their eyes locked onto each other for a moment before she looked away and didn't bother to look back. Sasuke sighed, knowing that she was going to do that. Naruto coughed and grinned to ease the tension. "Well, come on, Kaka and Kurenai are waiting!" he said and led them all towards the door.

* * *

"You failed the mission; you didn't even get any information that could lead us to Orochimaru." Kakashi said sternly. "I am really disappointed in you Sasuke, Naruto." He said, eyeing the two. "And I thought that sending my top two assassins would let us win the mission hands down." He turned to the two female killers. "As for the two of you, I have no right to say anything; I'll leave my ex-partner to deal with you both." 

Kurenai sighed. "As what Kakashi said, I too am disappointed, but it's your first time to actually fail, I guess nobody can be perfect, and I can't expect you to always succeed, after all, even I had failures." She gave a small smile to the two and turned to Kakashi. "I do believe you can stop being so hard on them now."

"Fine, as of now, I'll let you have the day off, according to your report, you said Orochimaru is planning on letting you join him," he eyed the file on his desk. "Just be ready, he may suddenly catch you off guard."

"Aa." And he dismissed all four.

Naruto stretched his arms and turned to Hinata. "Come on Hinata, I know this really great place and I'm sure you'll love it!" he pulled the girl and they ran out of the building, bidding the two goodbye. An awkward silence bestowed upon the two as they looked at anywhere besides each other. Sasuke sighed and pocketed his hands. "You want to go and get something to eat?" he asked, glancing at her. She shrugged and he took it as a yes, leading the way to his parked car.

* * *

They decided to eat in a small café nearby and ordered some sandwhiches and two cups of coffee for breakfast. Sakura looked for a seat while Sasuke carried their orders and followed her. They sat across each other and began to eat in silence. He would occasionally steal glances at her and she would keep her head down to avoid eye contact. Later on, she couldn't take the silence anymore and tried to think of something to say. "Um…" she uttered and looked up, opened her mouth but closed it again when she saw his bruised knuckle and a few more on his face. "You idiot." She said, narrowing her eyes but it had a look of worry and concern. Sasuke raised his brow. _"She finally talks to me but say it as an insult..?" _

"I don't remember you having those!" she said, pointing at his right hand. "Did you punch something hard? Geez." She said and got up, told him to move over and sat down beside him, took out a few bandages from her mini med pouch and began to wrap his right knuckle. "As for your bruises on your face, you'll have to wait for us to get back home." She said, securing the bandage and looking up at him with a stern look. He only looked back with a calm one as he gazed into her green orbs.

"What?" she asked.

He smirked and she somehow gulped, knowing that smirk of his. "Maybe you could at least do something to ease the slight pain it's giving." He said, inching closer to her. Sakura glared and pushed him back lightly. "Sorry, I'm still mad at you." She said and got up, walking abck to her seat. Sasuke just sighed but still had his smirk on. _"Alright, I can wait, but later, you won't be staying mad at me for long."

* * *

_

"Itai." He sad, flinching at the pain as his right eye shut tight. Sakura gently pressed the soaked cloth near his bruise until he finally relaxed. She drew it back and looked for other bruises that needed to be treated. "So far, the only bruise you have that really needs taking care of is on your right cheekbone, be careful alright?" she asked, placing the cloth back on it. His hand automatically grabbed her wrist, making her look at him as their eyes once again locked onto each other. Green ones stared back with slight confusion while onyx eyes only looked at her with calm and loving looks.

"Sasuke..?" she asked but he only closed his eyes and leaned closer to her, lips only a few centimeters away from hers. Unable to resist, she closed her eyes as well, and waited for him to kiss her. _"I don't know why I can't resist you, Sasuke, it's so annoying but…" _she opened her eyes again when he parted and lowered his head to her neck that was still hidden due to the collar of her top. _"…I…I…" _his hand pulled down the zipper and he once again marked her on her neck. "…I love you…" she whispered and she could feel his smirk against her skin. "I do too Sakura," he whispered back and nibbled her earlobe, "I'm sorry about last night…" he added and she gave a nod then stopped him from going further.

He gave a questioning look at her as she gave a playful smile. "I'll forgive you, but I have to be in control today." She said and leaned closer to him. "Well?" she asked and he only smirked and nodded, leaning back on his elbows. "I'm all yours." And she moved closer until he was on his back. Her long hair tickled his face as she leaned down for another kiss. "Good." She said, this time, finally the one to dominate the Uchiha.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 7: Overprotective_

"Sakura, are you okay?" he asked, seeing as she didn't look too fine at all. Waving a dismissive hand and giving a reassuring smile, she told him she was okay and was just a bit tired. He sighed and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. "Maybe you should stay here and rest, I'll go tell Kakashi and Kurenai about it." She was about to argue when she suddenly felt like puking. Getting up from bed, she rushed to the toilet and threw up, Sasuke looking worriedly at her. He knew she wasn't feeling good, after knowing her for a month now, he should know there's something wrong.

* * *

_A/N: Yes, I decided to stop there since I am so not ready to type a lemon fiction. Anyway, the next chapter takes place after two weeks. But of course, it won't start that way, that's why the next will be longer. Maybe you can already guess what's wrong with Sakura. Haha! **Calling all Artists out there! **Just for fun, I'd like to know who among you would be interested to draw a fan art of any of my SasuSaku fics. Haha Just curious and just for fun! So, do you guys have any suggestions for the sequel of Yakuza? I already have a plot, I'm just asking if you guys want any request scenes, feel free to send me a message! _


	7. Overprotective

_A/N: Well, at least some were able to guess right. I'm glad some still read my author notes, it's the others lost anyway if I suddenly announce something important. Anyway, here's chapter 7!

* * *

_

**Cold**

_Bam!_

He crashed onto the wall and glared at his attacker, sweat evident on his face and he was breathing heavily. Thinking quickly, he dodged an attack and took out two automatic guns and started shooting at his opponent, the bullets hitting the vital parts as _it_ slowly crashed down, electricity enveloping it until it finally shut down permanently.

"Geez Sasuke, it took me weeks to build that robot!" Shikamaru said from the control room. Sasuke look behind him to see the genius behind bullet-proof glass seated on a swivel chair and monitoring the training area, which was where he was standing in. Loading his guns with new clips, he placed them back in his holster and sighed. "Come on, you can fix it in a day."

"Whatever, sequence four now commencing." He announced and pressed a button as a door opened and three androids came, ready with their weapons and looking at him. Sasuke smirked and pulled out his katana that was strapped on his back. "Bring it." And the androids charged as he jumped on their backs, evading some of their attacks. He stabbed one right through its metallic stomach, hearing the static it gave out then pulled back his katana to make a scratch on one that was about to land a punch on him.

"He's getting better."

Shikamaru turned around to see Neji eyeing the Uchiha fight. His pupil-less eyes turned to the lazy genius. "One of your toys?" he asked. Shika nodded and grinned. "Impressive huh..? They work and fight like real humans!" he said proudly. Neji turned back to Sasuke and smirked. "Yeah, like those who became Uchiha's victims?" Shikamaru raised a brow at him then turned to Sasuke and yelled.

"Uchiha Sasuke! You will pay for those!"

* * *

**_Chapter 7: Overprotective_**

"And I had to look hard for these parts, and then there's the amount of time I've spent and the electricity I used and-" Shikamaru rambled on and on as the three made their way to Kakashi's office. It appears that Sasuke had turned the androids to bits and junk and the genius of SS just started to lose his cool. Neji continued snickering while Sasuke kept rolling his eyes at the genius. "Gah! I can't believe you ruined my-"

"Alright already, you're being overdramatic about it." Sasuke muttered, walking faster than the two. Shikamaru and Neji stopped and looked at him, glancing at each other and exchanging questioning looks. "What's up with him?" the Hyuuga asked. "Well," came a voice from behind them as the owner suddenly squeezed himself in between them and head locked the two despite his short height. "Our Sasuke's getting a wee bit stressed or panicky around his cherry blossom."

"Wha-? Naruto, speak in Japanese." Shikamaru said, eyeing the blonde who grinned. "For a genius like you, you sure don't catch up quick, right Neji?" the Hyuuga blinked and shook his head. "Honestly Naruto, what do you mean by that?"

"You two are hopeless," he said, sighing. "Sakura's been sick for more than a week after they both made up from their little spat. Sasuke's being a bit edgy about it." The two nodded in understanding. "Did she go to a doctor yet?" asked the lazy bum. Naruto shook his head. "You all know how our Sasuke is, he had the doctor, his family doctor, come to her. Heck, he wouldn't even leave unless Hinata was there to stay with Sakura."

"If you ask me, that's like treating someone who is about to die." Neji said.

"Nah, my bet is she's pregnant." Naruto grinned. "Care to do a gamble?"

The two blinked and looked at each other, shrugging before emptying their pockets. "I bet she's just sick." Shikamaru said while Neji shook his head. "Bet 'ya my next pay that she's just tired and fatigue!" and lastly, Naruto's grin broaden. "I bet you my savings _and _my next pay that she's pregnant!" They stuck out their hands in the middle and joined them together. "Deal!" and they broke apart, walking over to Kakashi's office.

* * *

Hinata took a chair and sat down by Sakura's bedside, smiling as she watched her friend give a slight snore. _"At least it isn't as worse as before." _She thought, giggling as softly as possible. Her eyes traveled down to Sakura's stomach where a small lump was visible, almost unseen by the naked eye. _"Huh? So that's what he meant…"_ She smiled, recalling what Sasuke had told her. 

"_Make sure she doesn't tire herself out." _

It's been weeks since she last went to SS's HQ and since Orochimaru's second challenge. It was almost a lost but Sasuke's determination managed to get him to win the battle. She could remember how Naruto tried so hard to not interfere, how Sakura wanted to so much help him, but once again, Orochimaru had played dirty. Never the less, in the end, Sasuke was victorious. He didn't even let Orochimaru's taunt on him affect him, even if the bastard used a kid as a hostage, Sasuke managed to win.

She sighed, nearly fainting at the time when she thought the kid would get killed. It was a tough challenge for SS's top assassin, but Sasuke proved to them all why he was the best of the best in Shadow Serpents. He was not named Shadow Assassin for nothing, for he moves within the shadows and kills by giving a surprise attack to unsuspecting victims. The second challenge was for him to rescue the kid without Orochimaru knowing he was nearing.

* * *

"_Ugh!" Sasuke's back had met the cement wall for the fourth time that day as Orochimaru continued to snicker. "Sasuke, Sasuke," the bastard said in his slithery voice, giving the kid he was holding the creeps. "When will you ever learn..? This is just a simple challenge, in fact, you have the upper hand! You are branded as Shadow Assassin after all." Sasuke clenched his fists and got up, giving his three companions the look that said not to go near him. _

_Taking a deep breath, he exhaled and opened his eyes, activating his sharingan. He never really used it unless he lost control or if he wants to rush things. Right now, he's doing this because of the latter; he wanted to end this now. "I'll send you home crying because of failure!" he yelled and took a step back, blending in with the shadows as Orochimaru smirked, trying to sense where the assassin would attack. _

"_Behind…" Oro hissed and dodged a kick that Sasuke gave. The young adult cursed and once again vanished from sight. "My right," and Orochimaru ducked a punch. "Left…" the snake evaded. "Above…'' and he took a step back. "Not working Sasuke, I can hear you panting." His yellow eyes turned to his left and he readied to dodge, but a fist met his pale face when he attempted to evade. Sasuke had attack from the front. He faked an approach to Oro's left then quickly turned back to the front and landed a fist on the snake's face. "Game Over, Oro."

* * *

_

Hinata snapped back from her thoughts when Sakura groaned and sat up, rubbing an eye. She yawned and looked at the Hyuuga. "What time is it?" she asked and Hinata gave her a small smile. "It's 3:57PM." Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Hinata. "Why didn't Sasuke wake me up for the gathering? And why are you still here? Shouldn't you be in SS HQ?"

"He didn't wake you up because you weren't feeling so good, remember?"

She blinked. "All I remember is getting up then falling back asleep again." She groaned. "Still, that doesn't mean he can leave me behind, geez." She got out of bed, much to Hinata's dismay, and started to get changed. However, when she was halfway of taking of her shirt, she felt sick and ran to the bathroom, puking. Hinata blinked. "Sakura, what did the doctor say?" she asked.

"Well, he told me to just rest and he'll be back after a few weeks." She answered and started to throw up again. Groaning, she got up and washed her face on the sink after flushing the toilet. "Come on, let's head to HQ." Hinata shook her head. "Sasuke told me you shouldn't go." Her eyes narrowed as a vein popped at the side of her head. "That's it…" she said in a dangerous tone and grabbed her mobile phone, searched for Sasuke's name and number and pressed the call button. "He's dead…" she murmured, dark aura erupting from her whole body. Hinata only squeaked in fear like a little mouse, backing away from the very angry Sakura.

* * *

"And so, this is what Shino and Kiba-" 

_Ring. Ring._

Kakashi was cut off by his sentence as they all looked at Sasuke who took out his phone from his pocket. Looking at the name, he sighed and answered it. By instinct, he distanced his ear from the phone by an arm's length, earning question marks to appear above his co-assassins head.

"Uchiha Sasuke! What's the big idea about not letting me go there? What! You think a little sickness will stop me? No way! I'm going to strangle you!"

All had their ears covered and eyes widened, staring at the phone as Sakura continued to yell and… complain. "Dude, you two are like… old married couples…" Kiba said, eyeing the phone. Sasuke gave him a look that said "shut-up-or-I'll-kill-you" and brought back his phone near his ear when Sakura had stopped. "Doctor's orders Sakura, you know as well as I do that you're not feeling so good." He said and again, removed the phone from his ear.

"But that does not give you the reason or right to tell me what to do and-"

"Alright Sakura, I still have a meeting, so go and get some rest." He said, his patience growing thin as a vein popped on his head as well, his shut eyes twitching in annoyance. The rest only stared at him as Sakura continued to yell. Sasuke sighed. "Yes _dear_, I miss you too…" he said sarcastically and hung up after saying "bye" to her, shut his phone off and shoved it in his coat's pocket. He looked up to see all, including Kakashi, Kurenai and his brother, staring at him.

"What?" he asked, clearly annoyed. "Can we get on with the meeting..?"

SS's leader cleared his throat and once again gained the attention of everyone. "As I was saying, Shino's specialized bugs were able to get enough info about Orochimaru's plans and Kiba's dog managed to track down where the snake is hiding." Kakashi turned to Naruto. "You will be in charge of what you're good at, distraction. Shikamaru will be a bit farther from the base of Oro and will be disabling all alarms, warning everyone if he will be about to face a number of Oro's guards. Neji will be with Shikamaru, looking out for anyone who will try and attack them. As for you two," he said, eyeing Itachi and Sasuke. "I'll leave the snake who made your lives miserable to you both, understood?"

They all nodded. "Now Kurenai, it's you turn." The female assassin nodded and stepped forward. "Blood Lust will be backing all of you up. Seeing as Sakura and Hinata can't go, Ten-Ten and Ino will be here." She said, turning to the two who raised a hand. "Right, Ten-Ten will be assisting Neji in watching Shikamaru's back, Ino will be distraction number two. And if ever Sakura feels better, she and Hinata will go with the brothers." She then turned to Kakashi. "He and I will be providing back-up when needed. Shino and Kiba will have to stand by and get ready in case things go wrong."

Everyone thought about it before agreeing to their jobs as Kakashi once again took over. "And before I forget, I'd just like to say that SS and BL are now united." He grinned. "Our rivalry is now set aside since Orochimaru is a bigger problem to all of us."

* * *

"Hey Hinata," Sasuke greeted, entering Sakura's room as the Hyuuga looked up at him and nodded her head. "Thanks for taking care of her, Naruto's offering you a ride home outside by the way." She blushed and smiled then got up. "O-okay, she's calmed down a bit but I can't guarantee that she'll let you go easily." He nodded and turned back to her. "Naruto will be explaining to you the details of the mission, thanks again." 

"Sure, it was no problem at all." And she left the room.

Sasuke walked closer to Sakura and brushed away her strands of pink hair from her face, seeing her closed eyes shut some more before slowly turning on her belly, a slight smile on her face. He smirked and sat down beside, her, stroking her long pink hair in a soothing gesture as he began to think of a few things. _"Tsunade still hasn't told me what's wrong with her." _He closed his eyes and recalled what had happened this morning.

"_Sakura, are you okay?" he asked, seeing as she didn't look too fine at all. Waving a dismissive hand and giving a reassuring smile, she told him she was okay and was just a bit tired. He sighed and gave her a light kiss on the forehead. "Maybe you should stay here and rest, I'll go tell Kakashi and Kurenai about it." She was about to argue when she suddenly felt like puking. Getting up from bed, she rushed to the toilet and threw up, Sasuke looking worriedly at her. He knew she wasn't feeling good, after knowing her for a month now, he should know there's something wrong._

He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature. "Sakura, what's wrong with you?" he asked the sleeping girl, a worried look on his facial features as the pink-haired assassin continued to wander in dreamland. A knock on the door echoed in his ears and he turned to it as Wei came in, holding a black wireless phone. "It's Tsunade-san young master." Sasuke stood up and took the phone from Wei, thanking him afterwards as the servant left and closed the door.

"Hello?"

"Sasuke, I've confirmed it, Sakura isn't sick at all."

"Then how do you explain all that puking and feeling so drained out?"

Tsunade laughed on the other line. "Tell me, she hasn't been getting her period now right? And please tell me you've done _it _with her a couple of times, or maybe more?" Sasuke's eyes widened and he abruptly turned to Sakura, walked over to her and removed the covers. He placed his free hand on her stomach, feeling a small lump on it. "N-no way…" he said and Tsuande only chuckled. "Congratulations Sasuke, you're now a dad." From the other line, she heard a thud and she blinked. "Sasuke..? Are you still there? Oi, Uchiha, answer me!" No answer so she just hung up, thinking that perhaps the boy had fainted.

* * *

Wei heard the sound of a falling body so he quickly rushed back to the room, seeing Sasuke on the floor with a dazed look on his face and the phone just inches away from his hand. He heard Tsunade calling him but soon hung up. The old man smiled slightly and took the phone, hanging up as well and tried to wake the boy up. "Uchiha Sasuke, that's not how an assassin acts! He should always be ready for surprises remember?" 

"Wei…" he said, a weird look on his face as he looked at his servant/caretaker. "I'm a dad…" and again, he dropped to the floor. Wei sighed and laughed, looking up at the ceiling. "Master Fugaku, Mistress Mikoto, your youngest son is no longer a virgin." And he chuckled some more. "Alright Sasuke, up you go." He said, helping him up as Sasuke staggered, half-conscious and still in shock of the news. "I can't believe it…" he muttered. "Um… Wei, where are you taking me?"

They stopped just when they reached the doorway with a sweat drop. "I don't know young master, I really don't." he said, looking at him who just fell down, anime' style. "Anyway, it's okay, I'll be fine here, you go ahead." He told the older man and Wei nodded, leaving the room. Sasuke sighed and walked back to Sakura who muttered a few words, one hand searching for the blankets. Sasuke smiled softly at this and took her hand, guiding it to the white sheets as she smiled when she placed it over her body. Leaning down, he whispered an 'Aishteru' to her and gave a light kiss on her forehead. He sat down, continuously brushing her hair with his fingers.

* * *

"W-what?" 

Kakashi's eyes had widened like dinner plates, Kurenai had a shocked look, Itachi had an amused smile, the Blood Lust assassins, minus Hinata and Sakura, were in a daze while the Shadow Serpents were blinking continuously until Naruto grinned and punched a fist into the air. "I win! Oh yeah! Time to pay up Neji, Shikamaru!" Naruto said, extending out his hand towards the two who grumbled in reply.

Hinata just smiled at them after telling the news or whatever happened. Wei had told her the results before she left the Uchiha manor and decided to break it to the team since they were worrying. "It's true, Wei-san said that Sasuke even fainted twice before letting the news sink into his head." She giggled, picturing the scene. "It's no wonder why Sakura was being more temperamental, seeming tired and lazy all the time and throwing up once in a while, not to mention the sudden craving for specific foods." She smiled, remembering how Blood-thirsty Blossom kept asking her to buy this and that or cook this and that. "I'm not sure how long though."

Kurenai sighed. "All the more she can't come to the mission." Kakashi gaped. "Unbelievable… my top assassin beat me… he-" Kurenai hit him on the head with her fist. "I know what you're thinking Kakashi, you're such a pervert!"

Naruto laughed, counting the wad of cash in his hands. "Just goes to show you Kaka, you're not the best after all!"

"Be quiet or I will personally make sure you will never eat ramen again!" Kakashi threatened in one breath as Naruto gulped and nodded his head. "So, as we've planned, Sakura won't come with us for the mission. We're going to need someone to at least stay with her, knowing Sasuke, he won't go unless someone is assigned to take care of her."

"I can stay with her." Hinata said. "We're both the only ones who doesn't have a role for the mission, so I can take care of her while you guys are gone." She smiled slightly at them, assuring everyone that she's fine with it. Naruto crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, I think you're the only one teme trusts to stay with her, along with Wei of course."

"Well, that's done, now we need to speak of Orochimaru's final challenge to Sasuke." Itachi said, looking at all of them. "So first was talent and skill," he said. "Orochimaru wanted to see how Sasuke can handle a number of men with only his hands and feet as weapons, and only one help from each teammate." He tapped his chin with an index finger and closed his eyes. "Second was independence, swiftness, and intellect, to see how Sasuke can approach an enemy with a surprise attack, and with a hostage involved, all on his own. It all seems to be an assassin test to me."

"Yeah, but Orochimaru can be tricky; it could mean another assassin test and then by the end, it's not what we'll expect." Kakashi turned to Itachi. "Usually, the final tasks for assassins is to kill the person who they are close to or love more than themselves, but this is Oro-bastard we're talking about, he can alter this test."

"I'm guessing that it could involve Sakura." Kiba pointed, putting the pieces together. "She is close to Sasuke, and she could be the trigger to make Sasuke go to Orochimaru."

Neji nodded at this. "Yeah, either Orochimaru will force Sasuke to kill her or he will be the one to kill her for bait." The others thought about it and nodded, it could be the answer. Itachi thought otherwise and narrowed his eyes. "I doubt it." He said, earning the attention of everybody. "Like you said Kakashi, Orochimaru can trick us into thinking that there's a pattern or something, but in the end, he'll surprise us with something we least expect." He sighed. "In this case, we may think it's Sakura, and Orochimaru will let us keep thinking it's really her, but we'll never know, it could be Naruto, him being Sasuke's best friend, it could be you, being his foster father, or it could be Wei, who's also been like a dad to him, or maybe even-"

"You." Shikamaru finished, yawning. "You're his only living sibling, the only one who has an Uchiha blood, minus Sakura since, you know. But you get the idea, you're the only _real_ blood-related family Sasuke has." Itachi nodded. "The point," he said, turning back to the rest. "I think it'll be better if we counter his plan."

"How?" Naruto asked, raising a brow. "I don't even get how he manages to twist this."

Itachi smirked at this. "Of course you don't, you aren't an Uchiha, and another reason, you don't know him the way Kakashi or we, Sasuke and me, do." He only got a glare form the blonde. "Moving on, I have an idea."

* * *

She stirred a bit and yawned before opening her eyes. She blinked, seeing Sasuke beside her, asleep as well, having a calm and serene look on his face. Smiling, she inched closer and kissed him on the tip of his nose, giggling when he furrowed his eyebrows and slowly opened his eyes halfway, meeting her viridian colored ones. "Hey, you feeling better?" he asked, his tone softer than normal. Sakura smiled and gave a nod. "What did Tsunade say?" she asked. Sasuke remained quiet at first and sat up, his back facing her. "Sakura," she sat up and listened. "I… need to know if…" 

"If what?"

"If you really love me for who I am…"

Sakura blinked and smiled at this, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Does this answer your question?" she asked, tightening her hug. "Of course I do, otherwise, I wouldn't be staying with you for this long, right?" Sasuke smiled slightly and placed a hand over her arms. "Sakura,"

"Hm?"

"You're…" he tried to breathe. "You're choking me."

"Oops!" she quickly let go and laughed nervously. "Okay, so maybe I'm a bit mad at you for leaving me here but, hey, I guess you're just worried." He nodded and faced her, a small smile on his face and she looked at him, slightly blushing. "Thing is, you're… a mom…"

Her eyes widened and he just counted for five seconds in his head until she yelled a "What?" and then everything turned quiet. Sakura placed a hand over her stomach, feeling a small lump. "Well, you don't need to wonder why or how, but if you're mad at me for that, then-" he never got to finish when she tackled him into a hug. "Sakura?" she looked up at him with tears in her eyes and a very happy expression. "Thank you Sasuke."

"Huh?"

"For giving me a child, and a family to start with you."

He smiled at her. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" she giggled. "Well, yeah but, I want to say it too because…" she looked back at him and puller herself up. "It's true." And she locked her lips with his. As always, they were interrupted when Sakura's phone rang since Sasuke still had his turned off. She took it from the bedside table and pressed the answer button, answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Sakura, this is Itachi, can you hand the phone to my brother?"

"Okay." And she handed it to Sasuke who raised a brow and she mouthed his brother's name.

"Yeah?" he asked and heard Itachi sigh.

"Is Sakura feeling okay right now?"

"Aa, why?"

"Bring her to HQ, we've got a few things to discuss."

"Like what?"

"Orochimaru."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at this. "Alright, we'll be there soon." And he hung up, handing the phone back to Sakura. "Come on, we have to go to HQ. Can you stand up?" she nodded and got out of bed then headed towards her closet. "What's up?" she asked, removing her shirt as Sasuke turned around. "My brother may have a plan to counter Orochimaru's ideas. Remember that he's out to get me, and I still have one challenge left from him, if he beats me, I go to him, if I beat him, he'll leave us, all of us, alone."

"How are they going to counter the snake's plan if they still don't know what the third challenge is?" she asked, turning around to face him since she was done getting changed. Sasuke smirked and looked at her. "Trust me; Uchihas are good when it comes to loopholes, counters and comebacks."

She shook her head at this and smiled. "That I know very well," she said, grinning. "Come on, since it has something to do with Orochimaru, I'm sure it's really important." He nodded and they both headed out towards SS HQ.

Starting the car's engine, he backed-up from the garage and headed out of the compounds of his estate. Until Orochimaru is dead, his brother can't stay with him but in HQ, which can really be annoying since he's missing out on what has happened to Itachi. They reached a stoplight as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, gazing at the red light, waiting for it to turn green as a go signal. Beside him sat Sakura, wondering what was wrong with the boy and why he was so deep in thought.

"What're you thinking about?"

He glanced at her then back at the stoplight, stepping on the pedal as the car moved again. A shook of his head meant nothing but she thought otherwise, frowning at his lack of words. Sasuke sighed and leaned back a bit. "I just want to get this over with," he said, eyes concentrating on the road. "I'm… scared." She wondered what was there to fear and he continued to speak. "My brother is in danger, the whole org is in danger, and even you're in danger. Sometimes, I think that I made the wrong decision of not giving in to Orochimaru to keep you guys safe."

"Don't say that." She said, her tone of voice held a hint of anger and anxiety. "If you went with him, do you think he'll keep his promise of not hurting us?" she asked, her eyes avoiding him as he reflected on her question. "There's a possibility Sakura, that if I did join him, he would leave you guys alone." She glared at him. "Just like that..? You can't be serious! You're Uchiha Sasuke, you're Shadow Assassin; you're the guy who is stubborn and arrogant to even know what the word 'give up' means! You fight for what you believe is right and I've never seen you be beaten by anyone without a fight!"

Stopping as another light turned red, he then faced her. "I gave in to you, the minute I felt love inside of me, I knew that I was defeated by you." He said and she shut her mouth instantly. "I gave in to Kakashi when he told me to be an assassin; I unconsciously gave in to Orochimaru when he tricked my parents into killing me, forcing me to become what they don't want me to be." He turned back to the road before them, waiting for the cars to pass before driving towards HQ once more. "The point is, I'm near to giving in, again."

"No, you're not; you're just saying that because you have no idea that Orochimaru is entering your subconscious in a way no one can explain. He's making you think of joining him, making you go to him willingly. The way I see it, you're losing the challenge."

His eyes widened when she said that and he stopped the car instantly, earning a few honks and nasty yells as well as vulgar languages from the other drivers who nearly crashed their car into his. "Say that again…" he said, facing her. She blinked away a few tears, wondering what had caused him this odd behavior. "You're losing his challenge?" she repeated unsurely. Sasuke narrowed his eyes back on the road, his grip on the steering wheel tightening by each second. "This _is _his third and final challenge." He whispered, a smirk appearing on his lips as he shook with excitement. "Tricky bastard…"

"Sasuke..?"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to loose." And he continued to head towards HQ, his eyes glancing at her for a brief second. _"Besides, it'll be a disappointment to our child if I lose." _He thought and smiled slightly. _"That's right, I can't leave; it'll be like turning my back on Sakura and leaving my responsibility as a dad." _

The car screeched to a halt when some guy just crossed the street without looking. If both didn't have their seatbelts on, they would've of have their heads hit the windows from the impact of the sudden shock. Recovering from their shock, they looked up to see the man looking at them, an evil smirk on his lips and their assassin instincts told them something was wrong.

Gaining back their senses, the two got out of the car and heard a few guns loaded and clicked. Craning their neck to the side, they saw Orochimaru's thugs holding onto guns and pointed at them both, the snake bastard himself approaching closer to them with a knife in hand. "I only need Sasuke, the two of you should die." He said, turning to Sakura and glancing at her stomach. Sasuke made an intention to move but the guns clicked again, making him stop and curse as Orochimaru inched closer to Sakura. "So, this is the end for you, then I can finally have the Shadow Assassin join me." And he readied to stab the knife on her belly.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Sasuke gesture her to go back inside the car with his onyx orbs and she turned back to Oro, just in time to evade the attack and jump inside the car, Sasuke following suit and stepped on the gas, running over the guy who stopped them earlier. Too bad that he managed to escape which resulted to Sasuke cursing about not driving faster but still shook it off and headed for HQ, telling Sakura to call Kakashi and warn them about it.

"_Looks like your plan won't be of use after all, aniki." _

Too bad too, it could've work if only they predicted Orochimaru's third challenge more accurately, then maybe they would've eliminated the snake earlier. _"Damn it! And I was looking forward to luring the bastard into my web." _

The plan: Give Orochimaru a call and meet up with him in private when in reality, the rest of the assassins are there, ready to take him on. Their guess for the third challenge was that Orochimaru was planning to make them think it wasn't the typical assassin test but would actually _be _the cliché challenge. Unfortunately, Orochimaru was actually toying and playing their minds.

"_I guess I nearly lost to him…" _he thought angrily. "Sasuke," he turned to Sakura who had a look of fear in her eyes as she lowered her mobile phone. He raised a brow and she gulped, sweat trickling down her brows. "The HQ has been invaded by Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man, and what's worse is…" she trailed off, looking outside the window. "He… has your brother captive…"

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 8: Decisions, decisions_

"You have a choice Sasuke," Orochimaru said, snickering at how the boy struggled from the ropes that bound his wrists. "Your brother's life," he said, turning to Itachi who had his hands tied behind his back and a gun pointed at his head. "Or Sakura's and your child's?" he faced the girl who was in the same position as Itachi but had a katana ready to stab her stomach. "Choose now, otherwise, they both die."

* * *

_A/N: I just love giving him hard choices! Hehe! This is for leaving Konoha in the anime' Sasuke. Hehehe! Now suffer my wrath! Anyways, thanks to those who answered my request for fanarts! If you have a deviantArt account, post it there and let me know, if not, you can send it to me via email. **Let me CLARIFY: **In case some of you didn't get the whole Oro plan and part thing, the assassins guessed that the third challenge was with Oro letting them discover the pattern of he test then purposely making them think aof a way to counter it, not knowing that the snake had actually followed the assassin test. Okay, it's hard to explain it, so you'll have to re-read it again and figure out the pattern. If you do get it, I salute you, if not, I'll try to further explain it by PM or through the next chapter.  
_


	8. Decisions, decisions

_A/N: Hate to say it but we're nearing the last chapter. Thanks for reviewing guys!

* * *

_

**Cold**

The news nearly shocked him out of his wits. The HQ had a lot of alarms that are hard to disable. The security systems are tight and computerized, made only by the resident genius Nara Shikamaru. Yet how were Sound members able to get inside? Most of all, his brother is more skilled than he is, but he got captured by someone like Kabuto? This guy wasn't anywhere near Itachi's strength or skills, so how did Oro's right hand man managed to confine Itachi? It was hard to believe.

"There's no way that guy will be able to reach my brother's level!"

Sakura didn't say anything and just looked down at the phone she clutched in her hand, scared at what will happen. Afraid of what could lead to Sasuke's decision. She too was wondering, how was SS and BL immediately conquered by mere henchmen? Especially with Kakashi, Kurenai and Itachi being there; Shino's bugs could've done something, Shikamaru's mind should've thought of something. All together, they would've brought down the invaders, so… how?

Finally reaching the HQ, they didn't bother to park and just got out, not even taking the key or turning off the engine. They just left, running towards the entrance, rushing up the stairs until they reached the floor where Kakashi's office is.

"_Something's wrong, I can feel it…" _Sakura thought, stopping when her partner did, both waiting for the other to open the door. Sasuke clenched his fists and raised one to touch the knob, twist it and push it open. Sakura readied herself by taking out a few kunai and shuriken, ready to block off attacks or start an offense.

What they saw made their eyes widened and bodies frozen on the spot.

* * *

_**Chapter 8: Decisions, decisions**_

Something was definitely wrong, especially since Sakura wasn't the type to joke about all of this. The whole gang was there, staring at them, wondering what their fighting stance was for. Kakashi cleared his throat and stood up, raising a brow at Sasuke and Sakura. "Can you please explain what this is all about?"

"Kakashi-san..?" Sakura voiced out her thoughts. "H-how..? When I called you, you said you guys were under attack and taken captive?"

"Au contraire my dear Sakura," Kakashi said, raising an index finger and shaking it from left to right, stating his point. "We can't be beaten easily since we made the alliance." He chuckled and she sighed in relief, returning her weapons. She looked at Sasuke who still had his fighting stance and eyes fixed on Kakashi. "Sasuke..?" she asked. "It's a fake." He said and he threw a kunai directly at Kakashi who ducked it.

Sasuke smirked. "Just as I thought, this is an illusion." He said, taking out his katana from its sheath. "The real Kakashi would've caught it and scolded me by now, not evade and look at me with wide eyes." He turned serious and glared at the fake. "Who are you?"

The faker sneered and did a hand seal, the whole place turning into its real form. Broken chairs and desks, scattered papers, blood on walls and the carpeted floors with knives and bullets around the place. Standing there before them, alone and smirking smugly, was none other than Kabuto himself. "You know, you should also pay attention to what's behind you." And when the two were about to turn, their hands were tied behind their backs and had guns pointed on the back of their heads, the owners threatening to pull the trigger if they did anything funny or drastic. "Shit." Sasuke cursed and glared at Kabuto who still had a smug smirk on his face.

* * *

They were both brought to the underground part of HQ. Sakura tried to think of a plan on how to escape, glancing at her surroundings, trying to see if there could be a way for breaking the ropes or a way for one of them, if not both, to be able to run and get to safer grounds. A snicker reached their ears as they froze and looked deathly pale. Right before them stood Orochimaru, behind him were the rest of their friends and most were beaten up, some were better off dead, some were already on the verge of meeting Death himself. 

"You thought you could escape me, didn't you?" He asked, directing the question to Sasuke who remained impassive. This irked the snake-man a bit and still smirked, never the less. He gestured the men to bring Sakura over here then turned to the ones behind him, telling them to drag Itachi before him. Sasuke's fists clenched tightly behind his back; he was having a really bad feeling about all this.

"Now let's see," he ordered one man to stay near Itachi and another to Sakura as his yellow eyes turned to Sasuke with a smirk. "You managed to escape my third challenge. I knew that somehow, you were bound to give in and come to me on your own, fearing that your _precious_ friends and family will get hurt. However, just when I was about to win, _she_," he spat at Sakura who gave him a fierce glare; trying to remain fearless at the situation they're in. "…interfered by giving you hope, love and everything that an assassin shouldn't and must never have," he turned to look at Sakura's supposed to be flat tummy. "A child…"

He most _definitely_ disliked where this was going; especially since Orochimaru has just mentioned about his soon-to-be kid. From the corner of his eyes, he estimated the number of men that was there behind him, adding to that several more that were guarding the rest of the SS and BL assassins, including his brother.

"You have a choice Sasuke," Orochimaru said, snickering at how the boy struggled from the ropes that bound his wrists. "Your brother's life," he said, turning to Itachi who had his hands tied behind his back and a gun pointed at his head. "Or Sakura's and your child's?" he faced the girl who was in the same position as Itachi but had a katana ready to stab her stomach. "Choose now, otherwise, they both die."

Silence followed as Sasuke lowered his head, his bangs hiding his eyes away from their view as seconds passed. The tension was thick and everyone held their breaths, waiting for the Uchiha's answer. Itachi knitted his eyebrows at this and decided to speak. "Sasuke, just choose Sakura, it doesn't matter anymore if I die as long as you won't go to Orochimaru." Sakura looked at the older Uchiha with wide eyes and shook her head. "There is no way I'm going to live in place for your life! You're the only other living Uchiha besides Sasuke, he needs you more than he needs me!"

Itachi gave her a stern look. "Are you kidding me? If Orochimaru killed you, it'll be taking two lives, yours and that child in your womb, while if it's me, it'll only be one life!" Orochimaru gritted his teeth and told the two to shut up as he turned back to Sasuke. "Well? What's your decision?"

They heard a small laugh, more of a mocking one, coming from the mouth of Shadow Assassin. His shoulders were shaking from mock laughter and it only pissed Orochimaru even more. Sasuke raised his head slowly, a smirk on his face and the sharingan activated. He taunted Orochimaru with the look he gave. "What makes you think I care?" he said, his smirk getting more sadistic than ever as Orochimaru was taken aback by this, daring him to repeat what he had said. Sasuke spat and straightened himself up. "Pathetic." He said. "You're even lower than dirt, just to get me; you step so low into this, involving others when it's only between you and me!" He laughed; something very unlikely for the assassin which made the others gape at him. "Like you said, I'm an assassin, I can act right? All along, I've been tricking you, making you believe that I actually care about them! Why the hell would I waste my time with friends, love and family? Che," his twisted smile turned to the opposite, his eyes becoming cold and distant. "Love, that feeling in me died down the day my parents tried to kill me. I thought I could learn to have emotions again, so I played, tricked and toyed with them," he turned to Sakura who flinched from his gaze. "Most especially, I only fooled her."

Stunned; that was what everybody felt. It was hard to believe that Sasuke managed to deceive all of them, including Kakashi, who raised him, even Itachi, his brother, even Sakura… it was a hard fact to swallow. Naruto couldn't believe his best friend did that to him, to them. Behind those smiles, smirks, insults and tone of authority as well as care was actually a real killer, an inhuman being. It was all hard to accept.

Sasuke turned to Orochimaru, glaring at him icily. "If you want proof, I can kill my own brother, or anyone you want me to kill, besides, don't you have a few things to tell me? I hate my time being wasted you bastard." Kabuto, from behind Sasuke, was unsure at first when his master had told him to untie the young assassin. Sighing, he did what he was told to do, cutting the ropes with a dagger. Sasuke rubbed the rope burns he had and turned to Oro.

"Alright, prove to me, kill all of them."

A smirk; Sasuke took his katana. "With pleasure." And without warning, he spun around and slashed every one of Oro's henchmen, barely slicing Kabuto's head off. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at this. "You-" Sasuke stopped and smirked at him. "When you said all of them, I thought you meant including these guys. You are an assassin as well right? You shouldn't be aggravated just because I reduced your army. Orochimaru smirked as well, liking the way his attitude and way of talking was. "Alright, leave Kabuto alive. The rest," he turned to the SS and BL assassins. "…must die."

Shadow Assassin approached the group, a stoic expression on his face. He stopped before Itachi who looked at him in disbelief. "You should be honored actually." He said and Itachi gave a confused look. "That the sword that killed our parents, will be the sword that would kill you." He smirked and Itachi's eyes widened when Sasuke had stabbed him right through the stomach. The others gasped and Orochimaru and Kabuto gave an amused smile. Sasuke retrieved the sword and turned to Sakura when Itachi fell dead on his feet. "I didn't lie when I said I love you, too bad it didn't last long." He said, walking closer to Sakura.

"S-Sasuke..?"

"Thanks for the pleasure you gave me." And he pierced his katana right through her chest, stabbing her heart and killing it emotionally and physically. He eyed the remaining people, eyes focusing on Naruto. "My best friend and rival, it's a shame you can't fight back." And he sliced off his head, much to Hinata's horror. She screamed but was silenced as soon as the blade slit her throat. "Four down," he said, looking at the others. "Eight more to go." And he went to Kakashi, "And how about you? How should I kill you?" he asked, raising his sword. "Maybe I should split you in half." The rest turned to him with eyes wide. "This is it, goodbye to all of you."

And before Orochimaru could laugh at the victory, he felt a sharp object prick his arm and everything around him slowly faded. "W-what..?" he turned to his left and saw Itachi there with a kunai at hand and a smirk on his lips. "H-how..?"

"It's all a trick! That brat hypnotized us with his sharingan!" Kabuto exclaimed as he was engaged in a battle with Naruto and Hinata. Orochimaru clenched his fists and glared at Itachi as he took a fighting stance. He felt another kunai pierce his skin from the back of his shoulder as he spun around to see Sasuke, throwing him three more kunai. "And I almost had you there if only this bloodline didn't take up too much energy!" Sasuke yelled, rushing head on. _"At least I managed to kill his henchmen." _

"Kabuto, fall back!" he commanded as he reached his comrade's side. "This won't be the last that you'll see of me." Orochimaru snickered. _"He's definitely who I want to join in my guild." _And when Kabuto threw a smoke bomb, they both disappeared. The rest got up, some of them panting from fighting the two. Sasuke shut one of his eyes; feeling drained out and nearly fell on the ground if his brother hadn't caught him on time.

"Hey, easy there bro." Itachi said, placing Sasuke's arm over his shoulder and helping the younger Uchiha up. "That plan of yours was great, on the spot too, sadly, you can't make it last long." Itachi grinned as his younger brother smirked, letting hi onii-chan help him walk. "Well, Orochimaru knows my trick now, you have any plans?"

"As if he'll be coming back soon," he said, rolling his eyes. "I mean, with those injuries, I doubt it." They both looked up to see Sakura approach them. Itachi smiled and made Sasuke sit on the floor while he went to check on the others. Sakura knelt down before Sasuke, casting a worried glance at him as he avoided it by looking down. "Sorry…" he said. "…for saying those… words…"

Trembling slightly, she looked at him, eyes a bit watery. Sasuke looked up and was about to speak again when she suddenly grabbed his shirt and buried her face on his chest, sobbing a bit. "…I…was scared." She said in between sobs. "Scared of losing you…" he didn't say anything. What was there to say? He only comforted her by wrapping his arms around her frail body, his eyes looking down at her as she continued to shed silent tears. _"Sorry…" _he said in his mind, letting her cry some more.

Hinata glanced at them. The illusion they saw seemed real even if it wasn't directed at them. They could still see how Orochimaru and Kabuto didn't know that the real assassins were escaping, and that the real Sasuke was concentrating too much on the illusion, making it look factual that even they thought it was real. Itachi seems to be the only one who wasn't bothered or affected at all, being an Uchiha and also having the sharingan.

As for Naruto, he had to be restrained from hitting Sasuke on the head for the words he chose to say. Enough said. The blonde was struggling to get to his feet after being tied down for a long time. He turned to look at the others who were badly beaten but still okay. It was hard to fight the Sound assassins but was worth it to live. SS and BL must protect their title of being the top and always number one. They've been tied for too long so Kakashi and Kurenai had decided a truce, a joint mission, and finally, becoming one.

Itachi turned back to his brother and Sakura, combining every bit of pieces and clues together to figure out what Oro's plan really is. His eyebrows knitted at the guess he made. "I think I know why he wants Sasuke." Everybody turned to Itachi and raised their brows, telling him to continue what he was about to say. "First of, Sasuke is the top assassin in SS and Sakura in BL. His first target was Sasuke originally, then, he found out about Sakura. I think he plans to get her to have BL join their org, but then, Kakashi comes up with the joint mission which causes that plan to backfire. So now, since both guilds are over their rivalry and are now one, Orochimaru fears that his own group will never reach the top. If he gets Sasuke, it would mean a 50 or more, chance of overthrowing the number one league." He punched his right fist onto his left palm and smirked. "I have a plan that's bound to work."

"Alright," Kiba said, stretching his arms. "Let's hear it."

"Well, we need Sasuke to go to Orochimaru of course." He smirked. "Looks like you'll be luring the fly to your web after all little brother.

* * *

"Sasuke," 

He stopped and turned to her, wondering why her tone of voice was filled with worry. They already talked about this. She understood what he had to do, yet something told him that she can't help but worry. The way her hands were clasped together in front of her chest and how her head was hung low; he knew very well that something was bothering her, something about the whole plan that his brother came up with.

"Sakura, we talked about this."

"I… I know that but…"

She trailed off when he got up from his crouching position. He was rummaging in his closet for a shirt but this was more important. He sighed and walked over to her, one white towel hanging around his neck, his hair slightly damp with water and clad only in black pants that were a bit loose on him. "What's bothering you?" he asked when he was in front of her. Sakura slowly looked up at him then turned the other way, avoiding his gaze. Again, he sighed, thinking why she was so annoying at a time like this. But heck, that's one of the many traits she had that attracted him anyway.

Grabbing her shoulders, she faced him again when he hunched over a bit to be in eye level with her. "Answer me." He demanded and she knew she had to. Dropping her hands to the side, she clenched her fists, biting her lower lip to prevent herself from starting to cry again. When she became an assassin, she never did cry anymore, until… until the day she felt an emotion called love, or maybe even care and tenderness, when she met Sasuke. Something about his aura the day they made eye contact made her want to know him, and even got more than she bargained and yearned for.

Sighing for the third time that night, he leaned his forehead on hers, eyes closed and eyebrows knitted together. "Look, just tell me what it is and- I'll do something about it to ease your worry, how's that?" he asked, opening his eyes and staring right back into her green ones that were beginning to water as she continued to hold back the salty tears. She too, sighed, finally managing to stop herself from breaking down again. "I'm scared…" there, she said it, she finally admitted it. He knew anyway, she told him herself earlier that she was afraid.

Still, he smirked at her and she raised a brow as he removed his forehead from hers, standing up straight. "What are you afraid of?" he asked. Sakura crossed her arms at this and looked away, a cute pout on her face. _"Mood swings."_ Sasuke thought, finding it amusing. His eyes landed on her belly, remembering that she now had his- no, not his but _their_ child in her womb. His smirk turned to a slight smile and his eyes half-closed. _"This isn't really the right time, but I guess it's better if I do it now." _He thought, watching as she was still in her pouting position. Shrugging, he knelt down on one knee and grinned at her confused expression.

"It's kind of awkward to be doing this, especially since I'm topless and you're…" he looked down; she only had her long and loose white blouse that covered her upper body, including her arms and the end of the top was just seven inches below her hip. "You get the idea." He said, a blush tainting his face. Smiling slightly, she gave a nod and waited for him to continue. He coughed and frowned, a cute one in her opinion; the blush not fading but remaining there as he shifted uncomfortably, taking something out of his pocket. "You only did wear this once, when we were at Izegawa's dinner party." He muttered, opening his palm to her where the ruby ring was, still looking new. Her eyes widened, finally knowing where this was going. She looked at him, seeing him still averting his eyes from her own. "You already know where this is going, so… will you…" he gulped. Why would he? Wasn't he confident a while ago? "Will I what?" she asked, grinning. "You already know." He murmured; a glare forming in his onyx eyes as her grin widened. "Nope, I don't."

"Sakura,"

"Yes?"

"Will you- um…"

"I'm listening." She said.

"_Oh for- Gah! Come on Sasuke! Say it!" _he said to himself and gazed in her eyes. "Will you marry me or accept me or whatever it is that a guy asks to the girl he loves and would like to have for the rest of their life- uh! Just- damn it…" He muttered, loosing his cool.

She smiled.

"Sakura..?" he raised a brow.

"No duh Sasuke." She said. "Of course I will."

And he returned the smile, stood up, took her left hand and placed the ring on her ring finger. He held onto her hand for a while before looking back at her. "This may sound cheesy but, what the heck- I love you." And he grasped the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss which she returned all too sudden.

* * *

"Ow! Oh the pain..!" 

"S-Sorry Naruto…"

Naruto bit his lower lip to prevent himself from yelling again. If it weren't for those Sound bastards giving him cuts galore, he wouldn't be in this situation. "Nah, it's not your fault Hinata—AHH! Ow!" again, he cried out. Hinata gulped and was now afraid to even treat his wounds. He grinned sheepishly. "Liquor really is painful on wounds huh?" Hinata nodded and took some bandages again. "H-here."

"Awww, aren't you going to treat my injuries?"

"B-but I might… hurt you again…"

"No-no, it's not your fault, it's just really painful."

"O-okay…" so she bandaged his wounds carefully, flinching whenever he would yelp at times but he kept giving her reassuring smiles that encouraged the girl to keep going. Smiling softly, she nodded and proceeded to securing the bandage on his arm, the final wound that she needed to treat for the day.

"Hey, Hinata..?"

"Hmm?"

"…Nothing." Oh how he so wanted to punch himself on the head for being a coward. Hinata nodded and continued with whatever she was doing. "…it still hurts." He said and she turned to him, asking where. Naruto grinned at her, his cheeks turning slightly red. "Can you kiss the pain away?" he asked. Hinata blushed as well and nodded meekly, giving the blonde a kiss on his cheek. "Aww… just there?" he teased and she giggled, cupping his face and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. "Happy?"

"Yup!" he grinned again and Hinata only laughed.

* * *

The wind was blowing really hard yet he wasn't disturbed by it. His mind was focused on something else, and that was the task at hand. Raising his head, he looked at the gloomy and shabby-looking building. Some glasses were broken, some looking really dirty. The place was just near to deserted, and not a single soul was seen in the compound. He sighed and placed his helmet on top of his bike after getting off of it. He traced his fingers on the gun on his holster, making sure it was still there. Next, he felt the handle of his katana that was strapped around his back. Everything was set, he just needed to enter this, start the plan and they can finally rest assured that this is over. 

Taking out a small communicator, he placed it on his ear, pressed on it and spoke. "Shadow Assassin here, I've reached the Sound HQ, I'm gonna head in." there was a crackling sound before his leader's voice spoke. "Alright, be careful." And he headed inside the double doors, making his way to the stairs. He'd rather walk there then ride the elevator. For all he knows, this place is about to break down and the elevator just had death written all over it.

Bored, he counted the steps he climbed, the floors he reached until he yawned, seeing a security camera turn to him. He raised a brow at it then shrugged, walking to the next flight of stairs. The place was silent and empty, it's not like he killed all of Orochimaru's henchmen right? But it seemed kind of creepy to even be here.

He stopped before a wooden door, debating to himself whether he should go in or not. This mission risked his life, and he plays an important part in this plan. If he fails, everything fails. Sighing, Sasuke knocked on the door three times, waiting for an answer. His ears picked up the "come in" sound and he pushed the door open, stepping inside the dimly lit room. Squinting, he alerted his senses in case something bad was to happen.

"Well, well, if it isn't the little Uchiha brat."

Sasuke faced forward, seeing a pair of yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness. He knew at that time that he was facing the boss, his fake boss since he was going to "join" them soon. His brows knitted together, seeing the smirk the bastard leader had. His right hand man just beside him, literally on his right and staring at him behind those round specs.

"What brings you here?"

Clenching his fists at the side, he straightened himself, grasped onto the dog tag necklace around his neck and pulled it. Three pairs of ears heard the sound of a snapping chain as Sasuke threw the tag over to Orochimaru's desk, the object making a clanking noise upon making contact with the table. Sasuke narrowed his eyes to Orochimaru who took the tag with one hand, examining the item. The silver tag shone with the single light in the room, where the name "Uchiha Sasuke" and below it was the alias, italicized "Shadow Assassin". Both were engraved with black letterings and below it a code: 072392. "Birth month, day, and year you became an official member of Shadow Serpents." Orochimaru voiced out his thoughts and turned to Sasuke. "So, does this mean..?"

"I am here to join your guild." He said; his eyes showing that he was serious. Orochimaru only smirked even more and stood up, gesturing Kabuto to approach him. He did so and walked over to Sasuke, looking at him, finding any trace of betrayal or anything. Nothing; the assassin's face was void of any emotion. "He's serious."

At that, the snake snickered and went to them. "But to be an official member, you must kill at least one of your comrades." Sasuke shrugged. "Already did." He said. "I can even take you there and you'll see no one alive, I killed every member in SS and BL." Orochimaru only laughed and shook his head. "I don't think so, not after the little stunt you pulled off last time."

"Too bad," he said, turning around. "The place had new killing equipments too." He felt Oro's hand touch his shoulder, pulling him back. Sasuke smirked inwardly and turned his head to him, raising a brow. "Prove it, Uchiha." The 23-year old assassin took something out of his pocket, revealing the tags of his best friend, leader and two comrades, including Kiba and Shino's. Each tag was covered in dried blood and looking worn out. The chains were broken and stained by blood. Orochimaru turned back to him. "What's your proof with BL assassins?"

Sasuke smirked at this and took out a tape. "Care to view?" he asked. Orochimaru and Kabuto took him to the viewing room, calling a few others to watch. Sasuke counted the Sound members present. There were the legendary 4 assassins: Kidoumaru, Jiroubou, Tayuya and Sakon. There was also the very famous killer from Sound, Kimimaro, and the three rookies that were good as well: Zaku, Dosu and Kin.

"_Ten Sound members all in all." _He counted. _"My brother and I would probably handle Orochimaru. Kakashi and Kurenai with Kabuto, the rest of the SS with the legendary four, BL against the three; but there's still Kimimaro…" _Sasuke eyed each and every member discreetly as they all focused on the tape being played. Shouts and screams of the female assassins were heard as they watched how Sasuke got covered in their blood, walls splattered with crimson blood and limbs scattered everywhere, that including one of Sakura's head.

Orochimaru was amused and the others were stunned. If he can kill his comrades that easily, what if he joined them and soon, he too, will eliminate them? Somehow, the others weren't so sure about Sasuke anymore but Orochimaru still wanted him to join. "Impressive." He said, turning to Sasuke who only yawned and gave a shrug. "So, lead us to your ex-HQ." and he failed to notice the smirk that the young killer gave.

* * *

The Sound members looked at the building. It seemed new but when you enter it, it was all a wreck. Blood tainted the floors and walls, broken light bulbs and windows. There were even a few blades etched on the ceilings and walls, even on the marbled floors. Sasuke led them to the training area where more blood was splattered and where they saw the severed heads and limbs scattered all over. 

All of them stepped inside while Sasuke backed away slowly. He smirked and pressed on the gadget on his right ear. "Shikamaru, start the torture." And he left the Sound killers inside, taking out an ID card and slashing it against the training door's lock where it closed, trapping the people inside.

"What the-!" Kabuto turned around to see the doors closed. His eyes widened when the limbs, heads and bloods soon faded, leaving only a plain old training room. "He tricked us." The speaker turned on as Kakashi spoke through it. "Welcome to the training area of doom, Sound bastards." All heads looked up, seeing Kakashi and the rest behind glass windows that were unbreakable. "And before I forget, this glass won't break, whatever you do, we're still safe here. Only our genius Nara Shikamaru knows how to deactivate it!" he said, patting the said boy on the head.

"You fucking tricked us you little-" Tayuya got cut off by Jiroubou, who clamped her mouth with his hand, giving a warning glare about foul languages. Beside Kakashi stood Sasuke who smirked at them "Not my fault you were all so easily fooled." He said, rolling his eyes. Shikamaru chuckled. "You guys fell for the androids that Sasuke killed. They looked like real humans because of technology, I can make them look real instead of robotic!" he grinned, proud of his creations. "And the blood and weapons you saw earlier were just holograms."

Kakashi took the microphone and grinned. "Orochimaru and all of you Sound members," he cleared his throat. "You are hereby sentenced to death by SS and BL for trying to overthrow us, as well as planning to take over the country by forcing and influencing some of my assassins to join you. As the rules of assassination squad states, I have authority to kill all of you in any way I want to."

"He just made that up…" Shino muttered.

"Well then Shikamaru, let the torture and killing begin!" Naruto said and the genius of the org pressed a button, starting the sentence given to the Sound members. Dozens of androids came appearing as each attacked the Sound killers. "This is definitely it Orochimaru…" Kakashi spoke. "Game Over!" He sneered, not liking this idea one bit. Orochimaru ducked and told his "soldiers" to destroy this room, and destroy it they did. Some battled against the robots, others began wrecking the training room.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he continued to type a few things on the computer. "Crap, they're trying to break through the area!" The others gathered before him, watching as he tried to strengthen the defense until static electricity answered him. All backed away from the computer as it produced smoke and more crackling sounds. "Shit!" he cursed and ducked as the laptop exploded- not too loud or big, just a minor one yet it sent tears to the genius' eyes. "Damn it! I saved up to three months for that!" he clenched his fists and glared at the Sound killers as the robots lost power and life. He then opened the glass window that protected them as the others began to get ready to fight.

"Looks like we don't-" Kidoumaru got cut off when Neji threw three smoke bombs at them. They coughed and failed to evade the kunai that Ten-Ten threw at the group, missing some of the assassins by an inch or more. As soon as the smoke cleared, Orochimaru found Kin near to dying along with Zaku and Dosu. However, being stubborn, Zaku still got up and got his guns out. "That's it! I'm going to kill you all!"

Shino jumped down in front of him and kicked the guns away. Kiba followed suit, along with his dog, Akamaru, and tackled Dosu down. Ino took out a kunai and threw it at Kin, not wanting her to suffer any longer. _"You were going to die anyway." _And she turned around after hearing more blood splashed, seeing Zaku and Dosu take a few steps back from Shino and Kiba.

"Sasuke," Kakashi turned to him. "I'll leave Orochimaru to you and your brother." he got a nod from the assassin and he jumped down along with Kurenai, heading towards Kimimaro. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned his head, seeing Itachi there with a smirk. "Ready bro?" he returned the grin and nodded. "Always have, always will." And they both jumped down, facing Oro who snickered at the two. "What a pleasure to kill the two remaining Uchihas." He said, taking a blade and licking it. "I'll be glad to send you two to Hell."

Itachi gave a smug smirk. "Isn't your face enough to let us know we're in hell?" and the two brothers unsheathed their katana, running towards him as the Sound leader blocked and dodged. Sasuke managed to get behind Orochimaru and gave him a forceful kick towards Itachi who poised his katana to stab anyone. Sensing this, Oro dived down to dodged it as the older Uchiha pierced nothing but air. _"Damn." _Sasuke thought, eyes scanning the area. _"This place is too small for a better fight, and it's a total disadvantage." _He got up and stared at an exit door. _"Guess we'll have to take this outside…" _and he tried to force Orochimaru towards it.

Ten-Ten took out three kunai for each of her hands and got into a fighting stance, waiting for Neji to separate from Kidoumaru in their hand-to-hand combat. Seeing the opportunity, she threw it at the Sound assassin who turned towards the knives and deflected every one of it with his sword. He smirked at Ten-Ten who returned the gesture. "What the-?" and he felt someone hit the back of his head that it made him dizzy. Turning around, he saw Neji, only in his vision, he saw three of them. Shaking his head, Kidoumaru finally cleared his eyesight and charged at Neji who taunted him.

"You fucking bitches! Hold still!" Tayuya cursed, standing her guard as she watched Shikamaru and Ino move with swiftness. "Mind you, I'm not a girl." Shikamaru muttered and took out a few shuriken, shooting it towards her direction followed by Ino's multiple kunai. "Damn!" the girl cursed when a single Chinese star had hit her arm. "You're gonna pay for that you bastard!" Ino shook her head at this. _"This woman really has a foul mouth." _

"Hinata watch out!" Naruto yelled as the Hyuuga barely dodged a dagger. Jiroubou was a big and tough opponent that was slow yet hard to bring down. This was going to be a tough battle. They didn't have any choice, the Neji-Ten pair got Kidoumaru, Kaka-Kure got Kimimaro, Shika-Ino is handling Tayuya, Shino-Kiba is with Sakon since they killed Zaku and Dosu, the Uchiha bros are busy with Orochimaru and Sakura was fighting against Kabuto. Wait a minute! Naruto averted his blue eyes to Kabuto's direction, seeing Sakura fight with him. _"Oh shit, Sasuke's going to kill me if he finds out I let Sakura fight alone!" _he can remember clearly what his best friend told him before he left for Sound HQ, and that was to make sure Sakura was _not _fighting _alone_, especially in her current state.

"Naruto, go help Sakura, I'll take care of him!" Hinata said, dodging every swipe of the kunai Jiroubou gave. The blonde shook his head and landed between his opponent and girlfriend. He gave a powerful kick to the big guy, making him stagger backwards. "You know Sakura better, you two can fight together a lot better, leave this guy to me, I can pull off a few pranks to defeat him in a snap!" Blood-Thirsty Girl smiled at this and nodded, jumping towards Sakura to assist her. _"Besides, I don't think I can fight good with Sakura since I don't understand the BL codes."

* * *

_

This was going nowhere. They've been fighting for more than ten to twelve minutes and they aren't showing any signs of giving up. Orochimaru snickered at the two who were panting as the rain continued to pour on them. "What's the matter? I'm fighting the two great assassins yet I'm not even breaking a sweat." He watched as Itachi gripped his katana tighter and Sasuke curse under his breath.

"Just admit it; I am better than the two of you combined."

That annoyed them to no end. It was after all, an insult to an Uchiha if you belittle their capabilities. But as assassins, they shouldn't let their emotions get to them; otherwise, it'll be chaotic in Oro's favor. "Any plans aniki?" he asked, turning to his older brother who shook his head. "Not one, you?" he repeated his action earlier, shaking his head from right to left once. They can hear the others also reached outside, resuming their fight with their opponents under the rainfall.

Blood splattered on the ground as Neji gave a final blow to Kidoumaru with a stab of a kunai from the back, ending his life. Panting, he fell to his knees on the ground, his female partner running to his side and checking any fatal wounds. Kimimaro managed to put up a good fight yet against two assassin leaders who were elite ones in their younger years, it was hard to beat them, plus in the state he was in of having a rare blood disease, coming from his parents' genes. He sighed and gave in to them, asking for the two to end his life and suffering. At first, Kaka-Kure pair didn't want to kill someone who had no defense at all, so Kimimaro, with the last of his strength, charged at the two as they separated and threw their daggers at him, hitting vital spots of the anatomy.

Kakashi turned to Oro and the Uchihas' showdown, seeing that there was nothing new but the two brothers panting and Orochimaru snickering. _"I never knew he was _that _strong." _A frown made its way on his face as he and Kurenai aided their comrades. _"Whatever made him strong, I still must have faith in Itachi and Sasuke, they can defeat him, I know they can." _He glanced up at them. _"They do have the blood of a great clan in them."

* * *

_

"This is it!" Jiroubou yelled and charged towards Naruto, a fist ready to punch the blonde. "You're going down!" Naruto wiped away the blood that trickled down his lip and he smirked, his right hand taking something out of his holster. "Heh, fat ass loser." He said and took out a gun. "Go to hell!" and with a pull of a trigger…

_Bang!_

_Bang!_

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, looking down at the dead body of Jiroubou. "I only pulled the trigger once, how come there were two-"

"Sasuke!"

His blue eyes widened as he heard Itachi yell out his best friend's name. Averting his eyes to the direction of the sound, he froze when he saw the Uchiha's body on the floor and Orochimaru snickering, holding a gun. "S-Sasuke..!"

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Cold: Chapter 9: A New Beginning _

Itachi staggered forward to his brother, seemingly afraid that if he got nearer, his little brother might disappear. With one more step, he heavily fell to his knees, hands shakily grasping his brother's clothes as he tightened his grip on it. "Oi, Sasuke…" he hissed, his bangs shadowing his eyes that were starting to water with tears. "Get up… Sasuke..!"

* * *

_A/N: I'm not telling you if he's dead or alive. Hehe. Damn, crappy action scenes. Anyway, that's right! The next chapter may be the last chapter! Depends! Don't worry though, Fallen's a lot longer! **By the way, from the four upcoming fics I have in my profile, which do you want to be posted first? Tell me in your reviews or PM! Decision will be final after chapter 5 of Fallen where winner will be announced! To those who have voted, no need to, thanks though!**  
_


	9. A New Beginning

_A/N: Did I worry you guys that much? Is that how you all love Sasuke? Well… see for yourself what happened to him!

* * *

_

**Cold**

It wasn't supposed to end this way. He promised her, he really did. He even smiled at her and assured her that everything was going to be fine. Yet here she was, standing under the rain with Hinata embracing her trembling figure while they both stared at Sasuke's unmoving body. _"T-this is… this is just a dream! I… Sasuke…" _she choked out his name a couple of times and slowly fell to her knees, not caring if she was dripping wet and drenched in the rain. "Sa…Sa…" Hinata rubbed her back, comforting her and hushing the girl.

Itachi staggered forward to his brother, seemingly afraid that if he got nearer, his little brother might disappear. With one more step, he heavily fell to his knees, hands shakily grasping his brother's clothes as he tightened his grip on it. "Oi, Sasuke…" he hissed, his bangs shadowing his eyes that were starting to water with tears. "Get up… Sasuke..!"

Kakashi held Neji back from attacking Orochimaru. He wanted to kill the bastard too but it wasn't his fight. The Hyuuga kept pushing away his arms but they kept firm and grasped tightly on his shirt. "Let me go Kakashi! That Sound bastard deserves to die!" he growled, prying the older man's fingers off of his shirt. "Let go of me!" Kakashi gave him a stern look.

"This fight does not concern you Neji, back off."

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, he lowered his head and clenched his fists, his nails digging into the skin of his palms as blood began to ooze from it. He heard footsteps running towards Sasuke's direction and just when he looked up, Kakashi's hand grabbed Naruto at the back of his collar, pulling him back. "Damn it Kakashi! Let go! I need to kill that snake! I need to make him pay!"

Orochimaru only snickered at them. His yellow eyes observed every assassin's reaction. Itachi's comrades were shocked and aggravated. Some weren't able to hide their emotions, like Naruto and Neji, who were within Kakashi's grasp. The silver-haired man made no move at all but from the look in his eyes, it said enough of how much he wanted blood to be shed. As for the female killers, they too, were in a state of disbelief, especially Sakura, who was loosing it.

"So, one more Uchiha to go…" he was taken aback by the look that Itachi gave him, one of pure hate, his sharingan- it was different; and he made a mistake by looking into those crimson red eyes. A second later, his world collapsed and vanished, it was replaced by a black void, wherein he was crucified, and before him stood Itachi, holding onto a katana.

"You will pay…" was the older Uchiha's last words to him before he felt pain.

* * *

_**Chapter 9: A New Beginning**_

There was something going on, Shikamaru can tell. Earlier, Orochimaru was just laughing his head off; now, it was literally dislocated from his body after one look from Itachi. His head started to ache from thinking or coming up with a solution to it. There was definitely a logical explanation. It was probably the sharingan; but last he heard from Sasuke, it can only hypnotize, create an illusion and predict attacks. Besides that, the illusion that was to be made can be seen by anyone in the vicinity, yet it was only Orochimaru and Itachi who were sucked into the genjutsu.

"Sasuke!" Shikamaru snapped from his thoughts when Itachi had yelled. He watched as the older of the siblings started shaking his brother's body, slapping the side of his face and yelling his name. The Orochimaru-dead thing can be discussed and solved later; now, they need to know, is Sasuke still amongst the living? Shaking his head, he finally got his senses back. "Are you an idiot or what? Get him to the hospital, now!" the others got back from la-la land as well, and nodded altogether.

Cursing the dead Sound leader, Itachi scooped his little brother in his arms and ran after Kakashi who told him to follow. Neji and Naruto followed after them as the remaining assassins went to the other cars. Hinata still continued to comfort Sakura as she began to shake once more, her eyes widened and fear was evident in her expression. Kurenai noticed this and quickly started the engine. "Sakura, snap out of it! It's not good for your condition!" Ino cried out, seated beside her.

Ten-Ten looked back at them since she was at the passenger seat and gave a worried glance to the pink-haired assassin. "Come on girl, you must have faith in him! You know him better than any of us and you know very well that Uchihas don't easily give up, whether it's a fight to the death or against death himself." Sakura slowly lifted her head up at the one-year older assassin who smiled reassuringly. Kurenai smirked at this. "Ten-Ten's right, besides, he's under Kakashi, there is no way a guy like that can be brought down easily."

Hinata supported their answers by nodding and giving a soft smile. "That's right Sakura, Naruto even told me that Sasuke was too stubborn for his own good. I'm sure he'll be just as hard-headed against death. He did promise you that everything will be okay right?" Sakura looked at every one of them and gave a small smile as she finally relaxed. "Yeah… you're right… I don't know what came over me when I just… lost hope like that. Thanks guys."

"Sure, no problem Sakura..!"

They finally reached the hospital as Kakashi and Naruto burst open the doors for Itachi to enter, in his arms was the near-to-death Sasuke with Neji following him for assistance. "We need a doctor, now!" Naruto yelled as the people inside stared at them. Some of the nurses and available doctors noticed the condition Sasuke was in so they quickly assisted Itachi, leading him to a stretcher. "Sir, what about you-"

"Forget about my fucking wounds! Tend to my brother now! He's dying!"

The nurse was startled at his sudden outburst but nodded none the less and followed the doctor that accompanied the unconscious Uchiha. Kakashi gripped onto Itachi's shoulder, telling him to stay calm. "He's going to be fine Itachi, don't worry too much."

"Don't tell me to not worry! That's my brother! He's the only family I have left and I can't loose him!" he punched a nearby wall, creating a crack on it. Some of the passerbies quickly walked pass them, not wanting to get involved. "Damn it! Naruto, get Tsunade!" he ordered and the blonde just nodded frantically and left, heading to the front desk. Neji turned to Itachi then at Kakashi. "I'll go with Naruto." And he ran off, passing by Shikamaru, Shino and Kiba who all raised a brow.

The three approached Kakashi, asking what was going on and where Sasuke was. "I'm not sure which room, Shino, Kiba, go ask the information desk about it." The two nodded and left. "Where are Kurenai and the BL assassins?"

"Right here," Kurenai said. "What happened back there anyway? Within three seconds, Orochimaru wasn't able to notice or sense you slicing his head off. How did you do it?"

Itachi sighed and eyed every one of them. "While you guys were all busy fighting, Sasuke attempted to use the sharingan but it would eat away his life if he did, since he was already wounded from our battle. I was too busy thinking up of a plan to notice that Orochimaru was aiming a gun at me, and when I heard a bang, I was alerted and then I saw Sasuke rush in front of me and heard another bang. Next thing I knew, I was calling out to my brother."

"That's not what we want to know Itachi," Kakashi said as Shino and Kiba came back with Naruto, Neji and Tsunade, leading them to Sasuke's room. "But still, tell us everything."

"I knew Sasuke was worried about Sakura, she was fighting with Kabuto after all. I saw Hinata help her out so, he was rest assured that she'll be fine since Hinata was there. I too, breathed a sigh of relief when Kabuto fell dead after the two of them threw a kunai directed at his head." He sighed and sat down on a chair when Tsunade had told them to wait outside. The others took a seat as well, listening to his story.

"Well, I used my sharingan on Orochimaru. He made a mistake by looking into my eyes. Three seconds later, he was already trapped in the world of the Kaleidoscope sharingan, the mangekyou, and within those three seconds, I killed him while he was still trapped inside the illusion. I had to catch him off guard, otherwise," he stopped. "To be exact, we… planned the whole thing, but not exactly in the way Sasuke would get shot…"

"What did you two plan anyway?" Kurenai asked.

"He was supposed to distract Orochimaru while I find an opportunity to look at him in the eyes. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn't notice the bastard actually had a gun pointed at me."

Kakashi nodded at this and turned to everyone. "I assume all of you were able to kill all of the Sound?" they nodded; their bruises and injuries were enough to tell the story of how hard they fought against the enemy. A nurse came out from Sasuke's room as all eyes turned to her, clearly asking how the young adult was doing.

"Tsunade-san is still taking care of him, we're still not sure of the results. She sent me out here to guide all of you to another room. Although none of you are in a fatal position as Uchiha-san is, you're all still wounded, badly I must say." She said, eyeing Itachi and Naruto's wounds. "And if I don't do as she says, I may end up loosing my job." She said, sighing.

"Alright guys," Kakashi stood up and looked at every one of them. "You heard the beautiful nurse here." She blushed at the comment. "Let's go and-" a bonk on the head cut him off as Kurenai muttered a curse under her breath and walked off, her face very red. The silver haired assassin blinked and raised a brow at Kurenai. "What..?" he asked as the others sighed and shook their heads.

Itachi glanced at Sakura who seemed to be oblivious to her surroundings. He gave a sigh and placed a hand on top of her pink tresses as she looked up at him while he gave a small smile. "Don't worry, he won't give up that easily." He used his free hand to point at her belly. "Not with a child he has here, he won't leave his responsibilities like that, he won't give in to death. Believe in him alright?" he said, ruffling her hair.

Unsure though, she nodded and forced a smile as Itachi turned and followed the rest. Sakura got up and eyed the door for a few seconds before walking towards it, stopping just a foot away. "Sasuke-kun…" she placed a hand over her chest. "…Don't give up." And she left, following the others.

* * *

His eyes opened yet all he could see was a black abyss surrounding him. Sitting up slowly, he glanced around the room, or wherever he is, trying to recall what had happened before he passed out. He shook his head and placed a hand on it. He looked up when a voice called him, a man's voice; it was deep and had a tone of authority. "Tou-san…" he whispered, seeing his father walking towards him. "Get up." The older man commanded. "On your feet Sasuke."

Sasuke gaped and slowly got to his feet, staring straight at his father. Fugaku smiled slightly and turned his back to his son. "Come." And he started to walk away as Sasuke looked back, then ran after his dad who was starting to get a good distance away from him. "Tou-san, where are we going?"

"To see your mother of course, we miss you. It's been a while. A long while that is."

"You… guys tried to kill me."

"There was no other way, I thought you understood that."

"I know." He said, lowering his head and still following his father like a lost puppy. "But… it was too much, even for me, I was only a kid…"

Fugaku stopped and turned his head slightly to the assassin. "Tell me, do you remember anything before you passed out?" he asked. Sasuke looked away for a moment, thinking. With a sigh, he shook his head and looked back up at his dad. "Where am I?"

"You're in your own mind Sasuke."

"My… mind? How-" but he never got to finish as he felt electricity shock his whole body as he saw blinding white lights before going back to the darkness. He panted, falling to his knees and looking up at his dad with wide eyes. "W-what was that? Why did I hear panicked voices..?"

His father only turned to the darkness before him, looking at the horizon, if ever there was one. He smiled slightly once more. "Are you happy with your life?"

"What-" and the feeling of being electrocuted surge through him once more, He opened his eyes and was blinded by bright lights. His ears picking up the sound of a woman's urgent voice, ordering the other people inside the room to take action or whatever as he felt two hands pressed against his chest. He gasped for air and then his vision started to blur once more, his eyelids feeling heavy as he was swallowed into the pits of darkness once more.

"Sasuke," Fugaku faced him fully, kneeling down on one knee to be in eye level with him. "Tell me, are you happy or not?" Confused, he only looked down once more, trying to think what was going on, if this was all a dream and why he kept going back and forth to the darkness and then seeing white lights and back again to the black void. "Happy with what..?"

"Your life Sasuke, would you rather stay with me and your mother, or go back to your old life?" he asked.

"I… don't understand…" he said, looking at his dad as a hand was outstretched towards him, pulling him up when he took it. "Let's go then, you'll be better off with us." And he didn't argue, walking after his father. "What do you mean by- I'm better off with you and mom?"

Smirking, he shrugged. "Seeing as you're not in any good condition, your mother will take care of you."

"I don't need that, I'm already twenty-three years old dad, geez."

"I know, but in your mother's eyes, you're still the little Sasuke that she cares for."

* * *

"Clear!" and she once again brought down the AED towards the man's chest as it gave an electric shock. No effect. "I can't give up, clear!" still no effect. "Damn it Uchiha! Cooperate! Clear!" she turned to see the results, his pulse was back yet it was weak and his breathing was shallow. "One more, clear!" yet his eyes didn't open and he was slowly giving in to death once more. "Shit! Call Itachi- Sakura- or Kakashi! Whoever! Even Naruto! And of them! NOW!"

A nurse nodded and ran outside the room, frantically searching for the mentioned people. "Wait! I don't even know them! I only know who the guy that carried Uchiha-san and the ink-haired one!" she looked around the corridors, stopping when seeing a few blondes, brunettes and even silver-haired ones. "Where are they?" another nurse came out of a room and she peeked inside the door, seeing a few girls, one with pink-hair.

"You! Are you Sakura-san?" she asked, panting. The pink-haired girl blinked and nodded, wondering what was wrong. "Quick, come with me! Tsunade-san wishes to see you!" and without having any hesitations, Sakura got up, despite her wounds, and rushed outside to follow the nurse to Sasuke's room. "Why? What's wrong? Did something bad happen?"

"I-I'm not sure but Uchiha-san's going back and forth from Life and Death's clutches."

"N-no way!"

They both reached the room as Sakura heard Tsunade curse and tried to revive Sasuke again. She rushed towards Tsunade's side and questioned her about everything. The doctor explained to her what had happened earlier and how Sasuke kept dying and living at the same time. Her green eyes shot wide and her hand grasped his quickly, crying out to him.

* * *

"..?" he stopped and turned his head slightly behind him, squinting at the darkness. Fugaku raised a brow at his son's actions and wondered what was wrong. "Sasuke?"

"A-Aa… coming." And he continued to follow his father. He felt something grip his hand and he raised it to his face, looking at it, wondering what that feeling was. "Sasuke." His father's voice called out. "…Someone's calling me…" he whispered, looking back behind him. "…it's familiar…" he added, smiling slightly. "It's like… I feel bad whenever… I hear that voice when… in sorrow…" He closed his eyes as he turned around, trying to hear and figure out who was calling him.

"_Sasuke please wake up, come back!"_

It was a girl's voice, and it held longing, pleading, sorrow and love. The darkness began to light up as images of his life came whizzing by, projectiles coming and going, voices of friends and family; experiences of his life. Slowly opening his eyes halfway, a slight smile on his lips as he felt a surge of electricity shock his body once more. He felt water on his cheeks yet it wasn't his tears, it belonged to someone else.

Sasuke touched it and smiled once more, looking up as another picture came flashing, the darkness slowly disintegrating as he opened his mouth to speak. "Sorry dad, it's not yet my time, I still have a responsibility to someone, I still need to live for her and our child, and besides," he faced the older Uchiha. "Nii-san still needs me as much as I need him."

Fugaku let a smile spread across his lips as he nodded in understanding. "Very well my son. Go." With a nod, his surroundings began to grow brighter and he closed his eyes from the blinding light, feeling a body over his as he heard a few sniffles, cruses and his name being called out repeatedly. His eyelids fluttered open and saw a shocked Tsunade staring at him, along with a few assistants of hers with the same expressions.

Forcing himself to look at what's on top of him, he saw a mass of pink hair as he blinked a few times before saying the person's name. "S-Sakura…" she instantly looked up, eyes widened and were watery with tears as she gaped at him. "I… can't breathe…" he gasped as she quickly got off of him and Tsunade did her role of checking if he was still in a near-to-death situation.

"Are you feeling okay now Uchiha?" she asked, getting a stethoscope and checking his heart beat. "Yeah, a bit in pain but fine none the less." He said, sitting up and groaning from the body ache he had. "Shit, you made me scared!" Sakura yelled at him, letting more tears flow down her eyes as she wiped them away furiously. "Damn you for making me worry." He smirked at her. "Shouldn't I be the one to say that?" and he got a bonk on the head from the female assassin. "Ow! What was that for?" And she just smiled and attacked him with a hug.

* * *

It was relieving news to Itachi when a nurse broke in and told him the news. He was happy deep down yet his exterior remained calm. He gave a half smile to the nurse, silently thanking her for telling the good news. Kakashi then stood up and told everyone to head over to Sasuke's room, much to a blonde assassin's delight.

"I knew he was going to be fine." Naruto said, raising a fist in the air as they made their way to Sasuke's room. "Yeah right, you actually thought that he was gone." Shikamaru said, yawning. The excitement and tension was no longer there, so it's back to being lazy for the genius of SS. Neji just shook his head at this as they all reached the Uchiha's room.

"Teme! You had me worried there!" Naruto yelled, running towards Sasuke's bedside but Tsunade had stopped him from giving the patient a death hug. "Wait until he recovers fully Naruto." She said and turned to Itachi. "I do believe that the brother would want to speak first?" The others gave way to Itachi as Sakura got up from her seat and walked outside, along with the SS assassins.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Sasuke slowly sat up and shrugged. "A bit better." He answered and looked straight ahead, eyes half closed and head slightly hung low. "Dad appeared in… my state of unconsciousness…" he noted how Itachi's eyes went wide. "At first, I thought he was just telling me a few things, but as he told me to follow him, it was like… he was taking me with him, to the after life."

The older Uchiha clenched his fists at this and eyed Sasuke, silently telling him to continue. "I was tempted, nii-san, to be honest, I really was. Until I felt the electrocution, I doubted… I was hesitating… if I did follow dad, I wouldn't be here, if Sakura hadn't held my hand, I wouldn't be here, talking to you. If I didn't remember all of you, I don't think I… would still be alive."

"Shit, so this is like your what, second life already?" Itachi asked, clearly angry at the whole thing. Sasuke merely nodded in response, not seemingly affected by his brother's behavior. "You idiot," he murmured, whacking his little brother on the head. "Ouch! Will you stop hitting me? I'm still recovering you know!" he was startled when Itachi engulfed him in a hug, a tight one at that, and Sasuke didn't know how to react. It's been a while since his aniki ever embraced him into a brotherly hug, and though he would never say it aloud, he missed it.

* * *

"Just a little more Sakura!" Tsunade yelled as the female assassin gripped onto Sasuke's hand tightly. "Push!" Sakura gritted her teeth and glared at Tsunade. "I AM PUSHING DAMN IT!" she yelled out. Poor Sasuke's ear… which was right next to her lips too. _"…shit, I think I've gone deaf!"_ he thought as Sakura's grip on his hand tightened until finally, they heard a cry. Sakura lay back down, panting, relieved and glad that it was over.

Tsunade cut off the umbilical cord of the baby and took the blue blanket from a nurse, wrapping it around the baby. "Well Uchiha, it's a boy, congratulations." Tsunade said, grinning and handing Sasuke the baby. "I'll be leaving you two now." She said and stepped outside the room, along with the few nurses. Sasuke sat down on Sakura's bedside and Sakura the baby, handing him to her.

"What should we name him, Sasuke?" she asked in a tired voice, cuddling the baby. Sasuke smiled and looked at her then at the baby. "You name him." He said and she looked down at the baby, smiling. "It's winter…" she whispered. "Yuki, snow…" she added. "I think I know what to name him Sasu-kun." Sasuke leaned closer and gave a nod, urging her to go on. "I'll take 'Sa' from our first names, and add it to 'Yuki'."

"Sayuki," Sasuke said, looking at the baby. "Uchiha Sayuki…" he murmured, placing hi index finger on the baby's tiny hands. "Sayuki it is." And thus, starts a new beginning for the two former assassins.

Despite the two of them, taking away lives, they managed to produce one life, caring for the baby, protecting him, shielding him from the truth of their lives. But someday, they have to, just not today but sooner or later, they need to, they will tell their son, including their other children, if they do have a few more, and they will protect them from any danger that comes their way. It was hard to erase the past, but through family, friends and people who love and care for you, the future can be better and brighter.

_**The End

* * *

**_

_A/N: Lame ending, don't know how else to end it. To be honest, it was rushed, I ran out of ideas for it and I suck at action scenes when there're too many characters. Hope you enjoyed it still! And please vote on my poll! Check my profile for the question and choices! Now, for Fallen!_


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